13. Substituted and added plaintiffs

13. Where an action has been instituted in the name of the wrong person as plaintiff, or where it is doubtful whether it has been instituted in the name of the right plaintiff, the court may at any stage of the action, if satisfied that the action has been so commenced through a bona fide mistake, and that it is necessary for the determination of the real matter in dispute so to do, order any other person or persons, with his or their consent, to be substituted or added as plaintiff or plaintiffs, upon such terms as the court thinks just.

Section 13 of the Civil Procedure Code which authorizes the court to permit a person to be substituted or added as plaintiff in specified circumstances cannot be employed to introduce a new “matter in dispute” involving an entirely new cause of action which is inconsistent with the cause of action which was pleaded between the original plaintiff and the defendant.

Siriwardane Vs. Amunugama Gunarathana Thero (66 N.L.R. 383)