In a suit filed with leave under Clause 12 of the Letters Patent, only formal or reasonable amendments that do not affect the jurisdiction assumed by the court can be allowed. An amendment introducing a new cause of action cannot be allowed, and fresh leave under Clause 12 cannot be granted after the filing of the suit to enlarge the jurisdiction of the court.

( 1 ) THE plaintiff, who is a shareholder of defendant company (Def. 8) has brought two applications in the present suit which was, filed by him with leave under Clause 12 of the Letters Patent for a declaration that certain alleged, meetings of the defendant company held at different dates mentioned in the plaint and certain resolutions passed at the said meetings are illegal, ultra vires and not according to law and not binding on the plaintiff and/or the defendant Company. For the purposes of these two applications it is not necessary for me to state here in detail the facts of this case because it will suffice if I only indicate that the plaintiff's main grievance in the suit as originally filed was that the alleged meetings were held without any notice to him. Of the two applications-now brought By the plaintiff, one is for fresh leave under Clause 12 of the Letters Patent in respect of the amendments sought for in the plaint and the other application is for leave to amend the plaint in the manner indicated in red ink in the Annexure 'a'. The proposed amendment sought to be made is to the effect that the defendant No. 4 and defendant No. 5 were at all material times minors being; under the age of 18 years and as such they were never shareholders or directors of the defendant Company and further that the board meetings or proceedings wherein defendant No. 4 and defendant No. 5 took part and voted are null and void and of no effect and also the resolutions passed at the said meetings were and are null and void and of no effect. In the proposed amendment the particulars of the proceedings wherein the defendants 4 and 5 took part are given, and I find that two new proceedings dated 20-8-1956 and 26-7-1956, have been added which were not included in the plaint as originally filed.

( 2 ) THERE cannot be any question that the proposed amendment introduces a substantially different cause of action.

( 3 ) THE applications are opposed on the ground that no leave under Clause 12 of the Letters Patent can be given at the time of this proposed amendment nor can leave be given to amend the plaint because the amendment proposed is a new cause of action and further it is inconsistent with the cause of action originally pleaded in the plaint.

( 4 ) THE question for determination is a question of considerable importance because I have to consider whether the proposed amendment introducing a new cause of action should be disallowed for the reason that this being a suit instituted with leave to sue under Clause 12 of the Letters Patent no further amendment can be ordered.

( 5 ) CLAUSE 12 of the Letters Patent provides:"the High Court in exercise of its Ordinary Original Civil Jurisdiction shall be empowered to receive, try and determine suits of every description. . . . . . . If the cause of action shall have arisen either wholly or in case the leave of the Court shall have been first obtained in part within the local limits of the Ordinary Original Jurisdiction of the said High Court. . . . . . . "

( 6 ) IT has been well established in Rampurtab Samruthroy v. Premsukh Chandumal, ILR 15 Bom 93 that the grant of leave under Clause 12 of the Letters Patent is a judicial act which must be held to relate only to the cause of action disclosed in the plaint as presented to the court at the time of the grant. It has further been held that such leave, which affords the very foundation of the jurisdiction, is not available to confer jurisdiction in respect of a different cause of action which was not judicially considered at the time it was granted and that in respect of such a different cause of action leave under Clause 12 cannot be granted after the institution of the suit and that therefore the court cannot try such a different cause of action except in another suit duly instituted; and further that in suit for which leave to sue under Clause 12 of the Letters Patent is necessary the Court cannot allow an amendment which substa