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Judgment
C.S.Dias J.,
The Original Petition is filed seeking to set aside Ext.P5 order passed by the Family Court, Ernakulam in I.A. No.1274 of 2022 (Ext.P4) in O.P. No.346 of 2017.
The petitioner had filed O.P. No.346 of 2017 to declare him as guardian of his minor daughter ‘Joanna Mary Philip’. The case was listed for trial along with O.P. No.432 of 2017. On 30.11.2020, the petitioner filed a list of witnesses to examine himself and 7 other witnesses. However, the Family Court issued summons only to witness Nos.3 to 7. Even though the petitioner filed Ext.P4 application, to issue summons to Witness No.8, the Family Court by the impugned Ext.P5 order dismissed the application, on the ground that the examination of the said witnesses was unwarranted for the proper adjudication of the case. Hence, this Original Petition.
Heard Sri.K Paul Kuriakose, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and Smt. K Bhadhra Kumari, the learned counsel appearing for the respondent.
The petitioner, in order to prove his case, in his wisdom, has filed a witness list naming 8 witnesses. Apparently, the Family Court declined to issue summons to Witness No.8. Then the petitioner filed Ext.P4 application to issue summons to the said witness. The respondent has not filed any objection to the application. Nevertheless, the Family Court for the above stated reason dismissed the application.
It is trite, that the plaintiff/petitioner is the master of the suit/petition. It is not for the Court to dictate terms and state that the examination of any particular witnesses is necessary or not, unless it is so patently illegal or an abuse of process of the law. No one has such a case and there is no such finding in the impugned order in this regard. Thus, invoking the supervisory jurisdiction of this Court as enshrined under Article 227 of the Constitution of India, we set aside Ext.P5 order, and allow Ext.P4 application by directing the Family court to issue summons to the witness No.8, namely Smt.Midhun Elizabeth Varghese. The Family Court shall dispose of the cases as expeditiously as possible, in accordance with law, following the guidelines laid down by this court in Shiju Joy v. Nisha [2021(2) KLT 607].
The Original Petition is ordered accordingly.