Definition
Indigent person's suit.
Suit filed without court fee by poor litigant.
Statutory Definition
Order XXXIII CPC.
Etymology & Origin
From Latin 'pauper' (poor). Legally termed 'In Forma Pauperis' (in the character of a poor person), a historical mechanism to ensure justice is not denied due to poverty.
Full Legal Analysis
A Pauper Suit (modernized in law as a 'Suit by an Indigent Person') is a civil lawsuit filed by a plaintiff who is too poor to pay the mandatory court fees required to institute the case. To ensure that poverty does not become a barrier to justice, the law waives these upfront fees.
An 'indigent person' is defined as someone who does not possess sufficient means (excluding property exempt from attachment and the subject matter of the suit itself) to pay the prescribed court fee, or, if no fee is prescribed, possesses property worth less than one thousand rupees.
The court conducts a rigorous inquiry (often involving a report from the government's revenue authorities) to verify the plaintiff's poverty. If the plaintiff eventually wins the suit and recovers money or property, the unpaid court fees form a 'first charge' on that recovered amount and must be paid back to the State Government.
The Supreme Court clarified a modern interpretation: Even a company or a corporate entity, if it has fallen on hard times and meets the criteria, can be declared an 'indigent person' and file a pauper suit under Order XXXIII.
Advocates representing impoverished clients use this mechanism, but warn clients that concealing any assets during the pauper inquiry can lead to the immediate dismissal of the suit for fraud.
This Term in Indian Statutes
Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, 1908
"Suits may be instituted by indigent persons."
The procedural gateway allowing the poor to access civil courts without upfront fees.
