Harish Chandra, J.@mdashAn application has been made on behalf of the Appellant asking for a declaration that the Respondent Birendra Bahadur Singh has attained majority and an order removing the name of his mother, Srimati Jarawar Kueri as his guardian from the record. Order 32 of the CPC provides for the course to be followed in the case of a minor Plaintiff or applicant attaining majority and Sub-rule 5 of Rule 12 lays down that no order discharging a next friend and permitting a minor Plaintiff to proceed in his own name shall be made without notice to the next friend. The question is whether it is necessary or not to give such notice to the next friend before he is discharged in a case in which the Defendant (in the present case the Respondent) has attained majority. Order 32 is silent upon this point, and we have had some difficulty in deciding whether it is open to a Court or not to discharge the next friend of a minor Defendant or a minor Respondent when he has attained majority without giving; notice to such next friend. It appears, however, that there is an important difference between a "minor Plaintiff or a minor Appellant" and a "minor Defendant or a minor Respondent" and it may be that the reason why no provision has been made in the Code in respect of a minor Defendant or a minor Respondent attaining majority during the pendency of the suit is, pointed out by Chitaley and Rao in their commentary on the Code of Civil Procedure, that while a Plaintiff on becoming a major can elect either to go on with or put an end to the litigation, the Defendant has no such choice available to him and the suit must proceed against him notwithstanding his becoming a major.
2. We do not think it is necessary under the law to give notice to next friend on a minor Defendant or Respondent attaining majority before discharging him although in the circumstances of a particular case such notice may be found to be necessary. In this case there is no question of the Respondent having in fact attained majority. Notice of the appeal was given to the Respondent through his guardian, but the guardian has not appeared although the Respondent is represented before us by counsel. We do not consider it necessary to give notice of the application to the guardian and accordingly declare that the Respondent Birendra Bahadur Singh has attained majority and also make an order discharging his next friend Shrimati Jarawar Kueri.
