SupremeToday Landscape Ad
Back
Next
Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation
Listen Audio Icon Pause Audio Icon
judgment-img

1982 Supreme(AP) 391

Andhra Pradesh High Court
Judges : V.RAMASWAMI
YADGAR FAREDOOU SOHRABJL CHINOY - Appellant
Versus
JAMSHEDJI RATANJI - Respondent
Decided On : 10-15-82

A representative suit under Section 92 CPC does not abate on the death of one of the plaintiffs. The surviving plaintiff can continue the proceedings.

Headnote:

REPRESENTATIVE SUIT - SECTION 92 CPC - DEATH OF ONE PLAINTIFF - SURVIVING PLAINTIFF CAN CONTINUE SUIT - NO ABATEMENT - PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION - ADVOCATE GENERAL'S CONSENT - LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES NEED NOT BE BROUGHT ON RECORD.

Fact of the Case:

A representative suit was filed under Section 92 CPC by two plaintiffs with the consent of the Advocate General. One of the plaintiffs died during the pendency of the suit. The defendants filed an application to dismiss the suit on the ground that it could not be validly pursued by the sole surviving plaintiff.

Finding of the Court:

The court held that the suit did not abate on the death of one of the plaintiffs and that the surviving plaintiff could continue the proceedings. The court reasoned that the suit was a representative suit for the advancement of the interests of the public and not for the vindication of the individual or personal rights of the plaintiffs. Therefore, there was no question of abatement of the suit on the death of one of the plaintiffs.

Issues: Whether a representative suit under Section 92 CPC abates on the death of one of the plaintiffs.

Ratio Decidendi: The court relied on several precedents of the Supreme Court and various High Courts to hold that a representative suit under Section 92 CPC does not abate on the death of one of the plaintiffs. The court held that the suit can be validly pursued by the surviving plaintiff.

Final Decision: The court dismissed the revision petition filed by the defendants and held that the lower court had rightly dismissed the application to dismiss the suit.

V. RAMASWAMI, J.

( 1 ) TN this case, Sri Jamshedji Ratanji Chinoy and Mrs. Roshan dishaw Chlnoy obtained consent In writing of the Advocate General on 2-2-1977 and leave of the Court, as enjoined under Section 92 of the Code of Civil Procedure and filed a representative suit, O. S. No. 205 of 1977 against the defendants (a) to direct accounts against the first defendant from a particular period, both as a defecto trustee and sole trustee and to recover certain sum from him personally; (b) to direct defendants 2, 4 and 6 to refund the money with interest accrued on the deposits to be made in a nationalised bank or in any other Government Security as the court may find fit, and other reliefs. While the suit it pending, on December 18, 1979, the first defendant died. The first plaintiif also died on january 4, 1980. As a sequal to that, the petitioners in this revision petition who are defendants 2 to 5 in the suit, filed I. A. No. 29 of 1980 in the lower Court with a prayer to dismiss the suit on the grounds : Firstly, that Section 92 of the Code of Civil Procedure enjoins that there should be two or more plaintiffs for a valid prosecution of the suit and since one of the plaintiffs died pending the suit, the proceedings cannot be validly pursued ; secondly, that the relief which they sought for namely, to obtain accounting against the first defendant is no longer available because the first defendant also died pending the suit; and thirdly, the relief of deposit of the amounts in a nationalised bank is redundant as it was already made even before the suit was filed and that therefore the main relief is also no longer available.

( 2 ) THE lower Court did not consider the latter two points, in my view, quite correctly, but it considered only the first question-whether the suit can validly be prosecuted by the sole surviving plaintiff. The lower court dismissed the application on the finding that the surviving plaintiff can validly pursue the proceedings. As against the said order, the above revision petition has been filed

( 3 ) SRI Naga Seshaiah, to learned counsel for the petitioners has reiterated all the three contentions before me. It is not necessary in this petition, to decide whether on the -ath of the first defendant the relief of obtaining accounting from him is our viving or not and whether the deposit made by the defendants in the link of Baroda before the institution of the suit would disable the plaintil to obtain any further reliefs available. The only question that arises for decision it whether the suit can be validly pursued by the sole surviving plaintiff.

( 4 ) IT is contended that there should always be two -or more plaintiffs on record to validly prosecute the representative proceedings under section 92 CPC. Otherwise it would become a personal suit by a single individual and loses its character as a representative suit. It is alien to the intendment of the said provision. In support of his contention, the learned counsel relied en the decisions reported in MT Ali Begum vs. AM khan Charan Singh vs. Darshan Singh and Narain Lal vs. Sunderlal tholia. He laid emphasis upon the observations of their Lordships of the Privy Council made in MT. Ali Begum vs. Ali Khan that "the suit is always subject to the incidents affecting suits in general and representative suits in particular. "

( 5 ) THEREFORE, it ii necessary for me to consider whether the above contention is correct. It is profitable to reproduce Section 92 (1) CPC hereunder which reads thus ;"in the case of any alleged breach of any express or constructive trust created for publ c purposes of a charitable or religious nature, or where the direction of the Court is deemed necessary for the administration of any such trust, the Advocate General, or two or more persons having an interest ir he trust and having obtained the leave of the Court, may institute a suit, whether contentious or not, in the principal Civil couit of original jurisdiction or in any other C















Click Here to Read the rest of this document
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
SupremeToday Portrait Ad
supreme today icon
whatsapp-icon Back to top