interpleader suit
Under s.88 CPC, where two or more persons claim adversely to one another the same debt, money or movable or immovable property from another person, who claims no interest in it other than charges or costs and is ready to pay or deliver it to the rightful claimant, that person may file an interpleader suit against all the claimants. The court then decides which claimant is entitled, and the plaintiff, having deposited the property, is discharged.
The procedure is in Order XXXV. A suit is not maintainable where a suit is already pending in which the rights of all parties can properly be decided. An agent cannot interplead against his principal, nor a tenant against his landlord, except against persons claiming through them (Order XXXV Rule 5). The plaintiff must be truly neutral.
Example
When two sons each claimed the money in their late father's locker, the bank filed an interpleader suit under s.88 CPC and deposited the contents in court.
In Indian law
- Section 88 and Order XXXV, Code of Civil Procedure, 1908
See also
Read more in the study notes
- Suits by or against firms, minors and persons of unsound mind, indigent persons, and interpleader suits (Civil Procedure Code and Limitation Act)
- Appeals: first appeals, second appeals, appeals from orders and appeals to the Supreme Court (Civil Procedure Code and Limitation Act)