Indigent status and sufficient means disclosure under CPC: suppression of assets justified withdrawal of leave to sue as an indigent person.

Permission to sue as an indigent person may be withdrawn under Order XXXIII, Rule 9 CPC where the plaintiff suppresses material assets or makes incorrect disclosures about means. "Sufficient means" includes realizable assets capable of being converted into cash for payment of court fees, not only ready cash. On the material relied upon, the plaintiff had undisclosed inherited immovable property, admitted shares of value, and income from tuition work, while the disclosures in the plaint and indigency proceedings were inconsistent. The resulting non-disclosure amounted to improper conduct, so withdrawal of indigent status and liability to pay court fees were upheld.

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Issues: Whether permission granted to the plaintiff to sue as an indigent person was liable to be withdrawn under Order XXXIII, Rule 9 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 on the ground of improper conduct and sufficient means.

Analysis: Permission to sue as an indigent person is liable to be withdrawn when, on the material brought on record, the plaintiff is found to have suppressed relevant assets and income and to have made incorrect disclosures about his means. The test of "sufficient means" includes realizable assets capable of being converted into cash for meeting court fees, and not merely ready cash. On the evidence, the plaintiff had an undisclosed share in inherited immovable property, admitted shares of value, and income from tuition activities, while the disclosures made in the plaint and indigency proceedings were inconsistent with those admissions. The plaintiff's failure to fully disclose these assets and income constituted improper conduct within the meaning of Order XXXIII, Rule 9.

Conclusion: Permission to sue as an indigent person was rightly withdrawn, and the plaintiff was held liable to pay the court fees.

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