A Plea Of Indigency Should Be Made With Utmost Bonafides, Omissions In Listing Property Should Be Explained: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has iterated the principle that a plaintiff who filed a suit as an indigent was to explain omissions in the properties listed. The Division Bench that pronounced the judgment underscored the necessity of utmost honesty and bonafides when presenting an indigency suit. The Court said, “The plea of indigency should be made with utmost honesty and bona fides since approval of the same will have an impact on the exchequer as well as on the opposite party.” In this light, Justices A. Hariprasad and Ziyad Rahman A.A. iterated the principle that a plaintiff who filed a suit as an indigent was to disclose property possessed and if there were omissions, had to explain how the omission was bonafide, with reasons. The appeal before the Court arose out of a trial court’s rejection of an elderly woman’s plea of indigency, seeking exemption from paying the court fees in a suit. Her suit challenged the execution of her husband’s will, which she argued was riddled by fraud and misrepresentation.