CPC order 33: Suits by Indigent Persons (2026)

Explainer · Civil Procedure · CPC

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

Court fees in a civil suit are charged as a share of the amount claimed, and they can run high. Order 33 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 makes sure that a person who genuinely cannot afford the fee is not shut out of court. It lets such a person, called an indigent person, file the suit without paying the court fee upfront, once the court is satisfied about their means. This is a real access-to-justice provision. This explainer sets out who qualifies as an indigent person, how the application is made and decided, what happens to the court fee later, and the key case law. Last verified October 2026.

01The short answer

Order 33 lets a person who cannot afford the court fee file a civil suit as an indigent person, without paying the fee when the suit is filed. The person files a plaint in the form of an application, the court inquires into their means, hears the other side and the Government Pleader, and then allows or rejects the application. If it is allowed, the suit goes ahead and the question of court fee is settled at the end, usually depending on who wins.

Order 33 deals with suits. A matching set of rules in Order 44 covers appeals by indigent persons.

02Who is an indigent person

Rule 1 defines it. A person is an indigent person:

• if they do not have sufficient means to pay the court fee prescribed for the plaint; or
• where no such fee is prescribed, if they are not entitled to property worth one thousand rupees.

In working out their means, two things are left out: property that is exempt from attachment in execution of a decree, and the very property that is the subject-matter of the suit. So a person is not disqualified just because they are fighting over valuable property, or because they own basic protected assets.

Both individuals and, as the courts have held, a company or other juristic person can apply, because the definition speaks of a "person".

03How the process works

The steps under Order 33 are:

1. Application as a plaint. The indigent person files the plaint itself as the application, with the particulars required for a plaint, plus a schedule of their movable and immovable property and its value.
2. Examination of the applicant. The court may examine the applicant, or their agent, about the merits of the claim and their property (Rule 1A deals with the inquiry into means).
3. Notice and inquiry. The court sets a day for receiving evidence and gives notice to the opposite party and to the Government Pleader, who may oppose the claim of indigence (Rules 6 to 8).
4. Decision. After hearing, the court either allows the person to sue as an indigent person, so the suit is registered and numbered, or rejects the application (Rule 7).

Once the application is allowed, the suit proceeds in the ordinary way, as if the fee had been paid.

04When the court can reject the application

Rule 5 lists the grounds on which the court must reject an application to sue as an indigent person. The main ones are:

• it is not framed and presented in the required manner;
• the applicant is not, in fact, an indigent person;
• the applicant has, within two months before filing, disposed of property to be able to apply as an indigent person;
• there is no cause of action;
• the applicant has entered into an agreement about the subject-matter under which another person has obtained an interest; or
• the suit appears barred by any law, or someone else has agreed to finance the litigation.

Rejection on these grounds is not the end of the road. Under Rule 15, a person whose application is refused may still bring an ordinary suit on the same right, once they pay the court fee.

05What happens to the court fee

The court fee is not waived forever. It is deferred, and dealt with at the end:

• If the indigent person succeeds, the court fee that would have been paid is calculated and recovered as a first charge on the subject-matter of the suit, usually ordered to be paid by the party directed to bear costs.
• If the indigent person fails, or the suit is withdrawn or abated, the court fee is recovered from the indigent person (Rules 10 to 11A).

The State can recover the fee as if it were an arrear of land revenue. So Order 33 shifts the timing of the payment and the risk, rather than removing the fee altogether.

06Appeals by indigent persons

Order 33 is about filing a suit. The equivalent for appeals is Order 44, which lets a person who cannot pay the fee file an appeal as an indigent person, applying much of Order 33 to that stage. If you are preparing an appeal, see the memorandum of appeal format and, for a first appeal generally, the right of first appeal under Section 96.

07Key case law

• Union Bank of India v Khader International Construction (2001): the Supreme Court held that the word "person" in Order 33 includes a juristic person, so a company can also sue as an indigent person.
• Mathai M. Paikeday v C.K. Antony (2011): the Supreme Court explained that "sufficient means" is the capacity to pay the court fee without sacrificing the basic necessities of life, and that all sources of income are relevant.
• A.A. Haja Muniuddin v Indian Railways (1992): the Supreme Court underlined that access to justice cannot be denied to a person only because of poverty, which is the purpose Order 33 serves.

08A practical note

Three practical points help:

• Set out the schedule of property and means fully and honestly. Hiding assets can lead to rejection and even to being dispaupered later under Rule 9 if the person's means improve.
• Keep the merits in view. The court can reject the application if there is no cause of action, so the claim must still disclose a real case.
• Remember the fee is deferred, not gone. If you win, it comes out of the fruits of the suit; if you lose, you may have to pay it.

09Where Claw fits

Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.

Whether a person qualifies as indigent, and how courts have read "sufficient means" for people in similar situations, turns on the case law. Claw lets you search more than 30 crore judgments on Order 33, with Supreme Court rulings from 1950 and High Court rulings from 1990, and get results in under 5 seconds. Once the suit is registered, Claw lets you track cases, orders and hearings by party or advocate name across 9,102 courts, benches and forums, so you can follow the matter without paying for repeated status checks.

Claw does not use the documents you upload to train its AI models. Create a free Claw account to find rulings on indigent-person suits and to track a pending matter. To search the wider body of law, see case search across Indian courts.

10Sources and further reading

• India Code (Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, Order 33): indiacode.nic.in
• Order 33 CPC explained (background reading): ipleaders.in
• Claw: clawlaw.in

This explainer is general information, not legal advice. Court-fee rules and thresholds vary by State, so check the current CPC text and your State's court-fee law, and take advice from counsel before you act.

11Frequently asked questions