(per the Hon’ble Mr.Justice

D.S.R. Varma)

Despite service of notice, in this Civil Revision Petition, as substitute service, by publishing the notice in “Eenadu’, Telugu Daily Newspaper, Warangal District Edition, under the date-line 03-07-2005, none appears on behalf of Respondent No.1 and there is no representation on his behalf.

2. Respondent Nos.2 to 7 are not necessary parties as per the cause-title in the Civil Revision Petition.

3. Heard the learned Counsel appearing for the petitioner.

4. The question that we are called upon to answer this Civil Revision Petition, as referred by a learned singled Judge of this Court, is - “whether an affidavit can be signed by any person, including the Advocate, other than the party to the proceedings”?

5. In this context, it is to be seen that the A.P. Civil Rules of Practice, which were formulated by this Court with the approval of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh, are relevant. Among those Rules, Rules 59, 54 and 48 are relevant in this regard.

6. We may usefully notice Rules 59, 54 and 48 of the A.P. Civil Rules of Practice, which are thus:

“Rule-59: (New) Copies to opposite party:-

Every interlocutory application shall be supported by an affidavit and true copies of the application, affidavit and the documents, if any, which the applicant intends to use or on which he intends to rely, shall be furnished to the opposite party or his advocate, unless otherwise ordered, not less than three clear days before the hearing date.”

“Rule-54:— (30) Contents of:-

Except where otherwise provided by these rules or by any law for the time being in force, an interlocutory Application shall state the provision of law under which it is made and the order prayed for or relief sought in clear and precise terms. The application shall be signed by the applicant or his Advocate, who shall enter the date on which such signature is made. Every application in contravention of this rule shall be returned for amendment or rejected.”

“Rule-48: (44) Affidavit on information and belief:-

Every affidavit containing statements made on the information or belief of the deponent shall state the source of the information or belief.”

7. From a bare perusal of the abovementioned provisions, it is absolutely clear that there is no postulation anywhere to the effect. that the affidavit shall be signed only by the person who made the application. But, on the contrary, Rule-54 of the Civil Rules of Practice envisages that an application can be signed either by the applicant or by the Advocate. When an application is permitted to be signed either by the party himself or by the Advocate by necessary implication, the affidavit, which is filed in support of

such an application, can also be

signed by the party himself or by the Advocate.

8. Rule-48 contemplates that the affidavit containing the statements made on information or belief of the deponent is only enjoined to state such source or ground of information or belief.

9. It is to be noticed from the above provision i.e., Rule-48 of the Civil Rules of Practice that the expression “deponent’ is not defined anywhere in Civil Rules of Practice.

10. Therefore, it can be understood that the ‘deponent’ may be any person, even other than the Advocate, or the party himself. For e.g., an Advocate’s clerk can make statements in the affidavit provided the source or ground of information or belief is stated in such application.

11. Truth shall not be allowed to be suppressed by any person who is directly or indirectly connected with the suit proceedings. Therefore, the affidavit can be permitted to be given in the following order of priority — firstly by the party to the proceedings, secondly by the Advocate, and thirdly by the Advocate’s Clerk, who will be in a better position than the party himself to furnish such information, or by any person who has knowledge of the facts stated in the affidavit, provided the source of such information is furnished.

12. It is needless to sa