Respondents instituted the action for reconveyance involving the subject property originally covered by TCT No. 18550. At that time, Norma had been the registered owner of a portion of the subject property. As such, she was an indispensable party as her title to the property was affected. The Court had thoroughly discussed in a number of cases the nature and definition of an indispensable party, to wit:
x x x [I]ndispensable parties [are] parties-in-interests without whom there can be no final determination of an action. As such, they must be joined either as plaintiffs or as defendants. The general rule with reference to the making of parties in a civil action requires, of course, the joinder of all necessary parties where possible, and the joinder of all indispensable parties under any and all conditions, their presence being a sine qua nonfor the exercise of judicial power. x x x[47]
An indispensable party is a party who has such an interest in the controversy or subject matter that a final adjudication cannot be made, in his absence, without injuring or affecting that interest, a party who has not only an interest in the subject matter of the controversy, but also has an interest of such nature that a final decree cannot be made without affecting his interest or leaving the controversy in such a condition that its final determination may be wholly inconsistent with equity and good conscience. It has also been considered that an indispensable party is a person in whose absence there cannot be a determination between the parties already before the court which is effective, complete, or equitable. Further, an indispensable party is one who must be included in an action before it may properly go forward.[48]
Thus, a person who was not impleaded in the complaint cannot be bound by the decision rendered therein, for no man shall be affected by a proceeding in which he is a stranger.[49] Otherwise stated, things done between strangers ought not to injure those who are not parties to them.[50]
x x x."
