JUDGMENT - 1. This is an application tiled by defendant No. 7 in a suit filed by respondents Nos. 1 and 2 in the Small Causes Court against an order passed by the Small Causes Court permitting the two respondents individually to be represented by two separate advocates and also permitting cross-examination of the defendants and their witnesses by each of these advocates.

2. The question involved in this application is a very important one and it is as to the validity on otherwise of a long standing practice prevailing both on the Original Side of the High Court as well as on its Appellate Side as also in all the subordinate courts. The question is, whether where more than one person join as co-plaintiffs in a suit, each of the plaintiffs has got an individual right of engaging his own advocate or counsel and conducting the case independently of the other plaintiffs. Mr. Bhabha, the learned counsel for respondents Nos. 1 and 2 was unable to cite any instance in this High Court on its Original Side, where he has been practising for a long number of years, in which in case of a suit filed by more than one person as co-plaintiffs different counsel were briefed for each of the plaintiffs

Click Here to Read the rest of this document