Andhra Pradesh High Court
Judges : M.RANGA REDDY, S.S.M.QUADRI
Morasa Anjaiah - Appellant
Versus
Kondragunta Venkateswarlu (died) - Respondent
C.R.P.No.2325/87 etc.
Decided On : 02-03-92
Advocates Appeared :
Mr. M.V.S. Sureshkumar,Mr. G.V.L. Narasimha Rao,Mrs. A. Chaya Devi,Mr. S. Sreenivasa Reddy
Held : Where any of the parties to a suit/appeal dies during the pendency of the suit appeal, steps to bring his legal representatives on record have to be taken in terms of the provisions of Order 22 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
Where no steps are taken to bring the legal representatives on record under Rule 3 or 4 of Order 22 and the suit/appeal has abated and/or where the attempt have the order of abatement set aside and bring the legal representatives of the deceased party has to take the consequences mentioned in Rule 9 of order 22 and he cannot be allowed to have recourse to the general provisions of Order 1, Rule 10 C.P.C. for impleading the legal representatives of the deceased party by circumventing the provisions of Order 22.
An application under Order 1, Rule 10 C.P.C. to implead a necessary party including a legal representative of a deceased party to the suit/appeal which has abated due to not bringing on record the legal representatives of the deceased party, can be filed in a suit/appeal to enable the Court effectually and completely to adjudicate upon and settle all the questions involved in the suit, provided the proposed party has an independent right or obligation dehors his position as legal representative of the deceased defendant. An administration/ partition suit does not abte as a whole due to not bringing on record the legal representative of a deceased party (Co-sharer /Co-owner) as each party is in the position of the plaintiff and the heirs of the deceased co-sharer-co-owner is a necessary party to the suit, he can come on record on his application under Or.21, Rule 10 C.P.C.
C.R.Ps. 3389 & 3390/ 87 Allowed
C.R.Ps. 2325/87 and 3260/87 Dismissed.
( 1 ) SRI Suresh Kumar, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner, submits that the lower Court committed an error in impleading the petitioner as a party to the suit under Order 1, Rule 10 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the plaintiff having failed to implead her as the legal representative of the deceased 14th defendant by following the procedure prescribed under Order 22 of the Code of Civil Procedure. It is also brought to my notice that the lower Court committed another error in observing that the plaintiff had no notice of the death of the 14th defendant. A certified copy of the memo filed by the advocate appearing for the l4th defendant in the lower court reads that the death of the 14th defendant in the suit on 9-9-1985 was notified to the advocate for the plaintiff in the lower court on 28-11-1985. It, therefore, follows that the plaintiff had notice of the death of the 14th defendant before expiry of the period-prescribed under Order 22 of the Code of Civil Procedure for making an application to set aside the abatement. The specific provisions contained in order 22 of the Code of Civil Procedure Were not resorted to. Instead on 3-7-1986 the plaintiff chose to file an application under Order 1; Rule 10 for impleading the petitioner as 17th defendant on the ground that she is the heir of the deceased 14th defendant, the application having been ordered, the above revision petition was preferred.
( 2 ) SRI Suresh Kumar, learned counsel appearing for the peritioner, relies on some what different judgment of Sen, J. , in Bhagwan Swroop vs. Mool chand. The leading judgmen was rendered by Desai. , who observed:"there is some force in the contention that when a specific provision is madeas provided in O. 22, R. 4, a resort to the general provision like O. 1, r. 10, may not be appropriate. But the laws of procedure are devised for advancing justice and not impeding the same. In Sangram Singh vs. Election Tribunal Kotah, (1955) 2 SCR 1: (AIR 1955 SC 425), this Court observed that a code of procedure is designed to facilitate justice and further its ends; not a penal enactment for punishment and penalties; not a thing designed to trip people up. This was reaffirmed in Kalipur Das vs. Bimal Krishna Sen, (1983) 1 SCC 14"adverting to the aforesaid observations of Desai, J. , Sen, J. , observed:"civil Procedure Code requires that in the event of death of a particular party, heirs and legal representatives of the deceased have to be brought on record within a particular period, provided the cause of action survives. If the legal representatives are not brought on record within the stipulated period, certain consequences follow and the action abates either wholly or partially depending on the facts and circumstances of a particular case. The Code further provides that an application may be made for setting aside the abatement within a stipulated period. It is now well settled that an abatement can be set aside at any time even beyond the period prescribed for making an application for setting aside the abatement, if sufficient cause is shown explaining the delay in the making of the application. If, irrespective of the provisions of the Code and the merits of the case, abatements are to be set aside as a matter of course merely on the ground that abatement is only a consequence of non-compliance of law of procedure and substantial justice is denied to the parties, the result may really amount to a denial of justice and in an indefinite prolongation of a litigation. The provision fixing a particular time for making an application for bringing legal representatives on record with the consequence of the suit or appeal abating if no application is made within time, have been enacted for expeditious disposal of cases in the interest of proper administration of justice. It is further to be born in mind that where suit of ah appeal abates, a very valuable right accrues to the other party and such a right is not to be
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