The petitioner herein filed a petition in the Court of the Subordinate Judge, Tiruchirapalli, for permission to sue in forma pauperis the defendant, for damages in a sum of Rs.14,000, for wrongful dismissal. The suit, as originally framed, described the defendant as “The South Indian Railway, by the Governor-General in Council, represented by the General Manager”. Subsequently he filed an application to change the cause title by describing the defendant as “The Dominon of India, owning the South Indian Railway represented by its General Manager”. Subsequently on the new Constitution coming into force he filed another application to change it into “The Union of India, represented by the General Manager, South Indian Railway”.

This application was opposed by the Union of India mainly on the ground that the plaintiff by his amendment was seeking to implead a new party in the place of a defendant, who ceased to be a legal entity on 1st April, 1944, after the lapse of the statutory period of limitation. This objection prevailed with the Subordinate Judge, Tiruchirapalli, who thought that originally the suit was sought to be filed against the South Indian Railway Company, repres