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Judgment
Both the parties requested us to dispose of the petitions along with C.M.P. No. 866 of 1911. The petitioner, who alleges that the guardian of
the minor Zemindar of Gundamanaikanur entered into a contract with him to grant a prospecting and mining lease of the zemindary, applied to the
District Judge of Madura to be heard in the application made by the guardian of the zemindar u/s 31 of the Guardian and Wards Act for an order
sanctioning a lease to be granted by the guardian to another person. The learned Judge refused to hear him, holding that the petitioner, not being a
relative or friend of the minor, was not entitled to be heard. We think this is a wrong view of Sub-section (4) of Section 31 of the Act. It says :
Before granting permission to a guardian to do an act mentioned in Section 29 the court may cause notice of the application for the permission to
be given to any relative or friend of the ward who should, in its opinion, receive notice thereof and shall hear and record the statement of any
person who appears in opposition to the application."" Mr. Rungachari who appears on behalf of the guardian contends that ""any person"" in the last
part of the sub-section must mean a friend or relative, but the language does not require such a narrow construction. The Legislature appears to
have purposely used language wide enough to cover an application by persons other than relatives or friends of the minor, and in this view we are
fortified by the provisions of Section 43 which enables the court to entertain the application of any person interested to obtain an order regulating
the conduct or proceedings of a guardian. The petitioner before us was in our opinion, entitled to be heard, and we must therefore set aside the
order of the District Judge, dated the 31st March 1911, and direct him to dispose of the petition of the guardian, Original Petition No. 475 of
1911, after hearing the petitioner in so far as it relates to the sanctioning of the lease.
The petitioner will have costs of this application, to be paid out of the estate.