Pauper refers to a person without any property/ a poor fellow, within the prescribed standard of the law of a particular country. In the legal proceeding, between two parties one may claim before the court that he / she is a Pauper, that he / she has no means to pay the court fees and that the suit may admitted without payment of court fee. In other words, in a pauper suit an impoverished person is supported at public expense; an indigent litigant is permitted to sue or defend without paying costs; an impoverished criminal defendant has a right to receive legal services without charge. A person is a “pauper” when he is not possessed of sufficient means to enable him to pay the fee prescribed by law for the plaint in such suit, or, where no such fee is prescribed, when he is not entitled to property worth ………. Other than his necessary wearing apparel and the subject-matter of the suit. ….. [Ord. XXXIII r.1, explanation to the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908]
Plaintiff petitioner’s solvency is the sole question to determine whether the plaintiff would be allowed to sue as forma pauperis. ….. [Abdul Hannan vs. Salma Khanam (1974) 26 DLR 337]
An application for leave to sue as a pauper must disclose all assets; want of bonafides will entail rejection. ….. [Sailkupa Co-op. Society vs. Jahangir (1957) 9 DLR 412]