Judgment:

Sheel Nagu, J.

1. Heard. This petition under Article 227 of the Constitution of India assails the impugned order dated 09.10.2013 (Annexure P/1) passed in Civil Suit No. 19-A/2012 by Civil Judge Class-II, Shivpuri, by which the application under Order 32 of the Code of Civil Procedure ("Code" for brevity) for appointment of next friend of the defendant for reason of the defendant being of unsound mind has been rejected.

2. Learned counsel for the rival parties are heard on the question of admission and final disposal.

3. Learned counsel for petitioner inviting attention of this Court to the provisions of Order 32, Rule 15 of the Code submits that the trial Court as per the second part of the said provision is obliged under the law to conduct an enquiry in regard to a person who has not been adjudged to be of unsound mind and to be incapable for reason of mental infirmity to protect his interest in the litigation. Reliance is placed on the judgments rendered by the Punjab & Haryana and Madras High Courts in the cases of Dilbagh Singh v. Sawinder Kaur: AIR 2011 P& H 38 (Para 8); C.S. Navamani v. C.K. Sivasubramanian : AIR 2006 Madras 347; and G.V. Lakshminarayanan v. G.V. Nagam