Plaintiff's choice of defendants upheld where directors were alleged to be jointly liable and liability was yet to be proved.

A plaintiff alleging that a company and its directors were jointly and severally liable for a debt could implead those persons at the interlocutory stage, because the plaintiff as dominus litis was entitled to choose parties said to be liable. The court noted that the trial court had not finally determined the directors' liability on merits and had only treated them as necessary parties. As liability had yet to be proved by evidence, the defendants' joinder could not be disturbed at that stage, and the challenge to impleadment failed.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner and respondents 3 to 5 were wrongly joined as defendants and were not necessary parties to the suit.

Analysis: The suit pleaded that the company and its directors were jointly and severally liable for the debt. The trial court had not decided the directors' liability on merits but had only held that they were necessary parties. At the interlocutory stage, the plaintiff, as dominus litis, was entitled to implead persons said to be liable, and the question whether liability was ultimately established had to be determined after evidence.

Conclusion: The petitioner and respondents 3 to 5 were not shown to have been wrongly impleaded as defendants and their joinder could not be disturbed at that stage. The revision failed.

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