K. Padmanabhan Nair, J.

1. The defendants 1 to 4 in O.S. No. 152 of 1998 on the file of the Munsiff Court, Perurnbavoor arc the revision petitioners. They filed an application under O.11 R.1 of the Code of Civil Procedure (Code for short) calling upon the 5th defendant who is the respondent in this Civil Revision Petition to answer certain interrogatories. The learned Munsiff dismissed the application on the sole ground that the defendants are not entitled to file an application under O.11 R.1 of the Code against a codefendant. That order is under challenge in this Civil Revision Petition.

2. The learned Counsel appearing for the revision petitioner has argued that the view taken by the Munsiff that the defendant cannot file an application under Order 11 Rule 1 of the Code against a codefendant is illegal. It is argued that the principle underlying O.11 R.1 is to enable a party to gather necessary information from the opposite party. It is also argued that the words used are opposite party and not plaintiff and defendant. The learned Counsel appearing for the respondent argued that the view taken by the learned Munsiffs perfectly correct and the defendant is not entitled to ser