Question

A is in possession of property claimed by B and C adversely. A does not claim any interest in the property and is ready to deliver it to the rightful owner. A can institute------- suit

• A. Friendly suit
• B. Caveat
• C. Interpleader
• D. Restitution

Hint:

Understand the specific purpose of different types of suits and procedures under the CPC. Differentiating between concepts like interpleader suits, summary suits, representative suits, and caveats is fundamental for procedural law questions.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Pull out the key facts first: A holds the property, A does not want it, and B and C are both claiming it against each other. That combination points to one specific type of suit.

1. Friendly suit: used when parties agree and just want the court's opinion on a point of law, not when there is a real dispute between two outsiders over property held by a third party.
2. Caveat: just a notice asking to be heard before an order is passed against you, not a suit for deciding ownership.
3. Interpleader: under Order XXXV read with Section 88 CPC, this is the suit filed by a stakeholder who claims no interest in property but faces competing claims from two or more people, exactly A's position here.
4. Restitution: about undoing the effect of a decree that was later reversed or varied, which requires a prior decree to already exist, so it does not apply to A's situation.

A's role as an uninterested stakeholder between two rival claimants is the textbook definition of an interpleader suit, so the correct answer is Interpleader.

Answer 2

A useful way to think about this question is to ask what problem A is actually trying to solve. A does not want to fight over ownership, A just wants to avoid being sued twice, once by B and once by C, for handing the property to the wrong person. The right proceeding is whichever one is built to solve exactly that problem.

1. Friendly suit: this exists for situations where the parties are not truly adversarial and simply want the court's ruling on a settled set of facts, often to protect the interests of a party who cannot fully protect themselves, such as a minor. It does not exist to protect a stakeholder from double liability, so it does not fit A's problem.
2. Caveat: a caveat only lets someone ask to be notified and heard before a court passes an order affecting them, most often used to block an ex parte injunction. It gives A no way to actually resolve who between B and C should get the property.
3. Interpleader: this procedure exists precisely to protect a neutral stakeholder like A. By filing an interpleader suit, A hands the dispute over to the court, offers up the property, and steps out of the fight, so B and C litigate against each other while A is protected from being sued separately by whichever one loses.
4. Restitution: this is about reversing the effects of an earlier decree, for example returning money collected under a decree that an appeal later overturns. There is no earlier decree in A's situation, so restitution does not apply.

Only the interpleader suit is designed to let an uninterested party like A step aside from a dispute between rival claimants while still protecting itself from later liability.

Therefore, the correct answer is Interpleader.