The Guardians and Wards Act, 1890
10. Form of application.-
(1) If the application is not made by he Collector, it shall be by petition signed and verified in manner prescribed by the Code of Civil Procedure, 1882 (14 of 1882),1 for the signing and verification of a plaint, and stating, so far as can be ascertained-
the name, sex, religion, date of birth and ordinary residence of the minor,
where the minor is a female, whether she is married and if so, the name and age of her husband,
the nature, situation and approximate value of the property,if any, of the minor,
the name and residence of the person having the custody or possession of the person or property of the minor,
what near relations the minor has and where they reside,
whether a guardian of the person or property or both, of the minor has been appointed by any person entitled to claiming to be entitled by the law to which the minor is subject to make such an appointment
whether an application has at any time been made to the Court or to any there Court with respect to the guardianship of the person or property or both, of the minor and if so, when, to what Court and with what result,
whether the application is for the appointment or declaration of a guardian of the person of the minor, or of his property, or of both.
Where the application is to appoint a guardian, the qualifications of the proposed guardian.
Where the application is to declare a person to be a guardian, the grounds on which that person claims,
The cause which have led to the making of the application, and
Such other particulars, if any, as may be prescribed or as the nature of the application renders it necessary to state.
If the application is made by the Collector, it shall be by letter addressed to the Court forwarded by post or in such other manners as may be found convenient, and shall state as far as possible the particulars mentioned in sub-section (1).
The application must be accompanied by a declaration of the willingness of the proposed guardian to act, and the declaration must be signed by him and attested by at least two witnesses.
COMMENTS
(i) Application not supplying details and addresses of near relation of minor and taking steps to serve them as required under Civil Rules of 1957 was held improper; Jagdish Chander Gupta v. Vimla Gupta, AIR 2003 All 317.
(ii) An application for guardianship has to be attested by two witnesses as laid down in section 10 of the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890. The Court at the time of presentation of the application is competent to dismiss the application in limine if it is not in accordance with law. But once the application has been entertained and evidence recorded and the party has not raised any objection, the party cannot invoke the provisions of section 10 later on in appeal, when trial is completed and judgement pronounced; Aisha v. Bashir Ahmad, AIR 1987 J & K 68.
(iii) Non-mention of names of near relations of the minor under section 10(1)(a) will not make the application not maintainable particularly when the mother is the applicant; Abul Karim v. Akhtari Bibi, AIR 1988 Ori 279.
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1. See now the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908).
The Guardians and Wards Act, 1890
