Substitution of deceased parties in civil proceedings requires adherence to strict timelines under the CPC and affording notice to legal representatives, failing which valuable rights may be compromised.

ORDER. :

ABHAY AHUJA, J.

1. The Applicant/Plaintiff is a company incorporated under the Indian Companies Act, 1913, an existing company under the Companies Act, 1956 and 2013. The Plaintiff is a company stated to be engaged in the manufacture and marketing of pharmaceuticals and consumer healthcare products.

2. The Defendant No. 1 is a partnership firm whose services were requisitioned by the Plaintiff under the carrying and forwarding agreement dated 28^th September, 2010 and the amendment thereto dated 2^nd April, 2012 (the “CFA Agreement”). The Defendants No. 2 to 6 are the partners of the Defendant No. 1 firm.

3. The Applicant/Plaintiff by way of the suit is seeking a money decree against the Defendants for an amount of Rs. 8,10,19,029/- together with interest on the basis that the Defendants have inter alia breached the terms of the CFA Agreement., which breaches have allegedly resulted in losses to the Plaintiff.

4. It has been submitted that, unknown to the Applicant, during the pendency of the suit, on 31^st March, 2016 the Defendant No. 1 firm was dissolved, on 6^th October, 2021, the Defendant No. 2 passed away, and on 17^th March, 2022, the Defendant No. 6 passed away. It is the case of the Applicant that these facts were known to the Defendants who are partners of the Defendant No.1 Firm and accordingly on the occurrence of each of the said incidents, although the Defendants were obligated to inform the Court about these developments at the time of the occurrences of these incidents itself, but the same was not done.

5. That it was only on 2^nd August, 2024, after a considerable delay the Defendants brought the aforesaid facts to the notice of the Court pursuant to an affidavit dated 5^th August, 2024 filed by Defendant no.4 pursuant to a hearing held on 2^nd August, 2024 before the Court where the Defendants were directed to file an affidavit indicating as to whether the firm was a registered partnership firm or an unregistered partnership firm, the date on which the same was dissolved and the dates on which the Defendants No. 2 and 6 had passed away.

6. This Interim Application has been filed by the Applicant/Plaintiff on 18^th October, 2024 seeking to amend the Plaint in the Suit inter alia to (i) to delete the name of Defendant No. 1 partnership firm viz. Shivalik Exports Corporation, submitting that the firm has been dissolved; (ii) substitute the name of the deceased-Defendant No. 2 viz. Mr. Vinod Kumar with the name of his legal heirs viz. Mr. Harsh Kumar Gupta, Ms. Kalika Garg, Ms. Preeti Garg, Ms. Varsha Agarwal, as Defendants No. 2 (a) to 2 (d) respectively; and substitute the name of the deceased Defendant No. 6 viz. Dr. Jai Hari Har Lal, with the name of his legal heir, viz. Ms. Rachna Synghal, as Defendant No. 6(a) under Order XXII Rule 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (“CPC”) in addition to insertion of averments in paragraphs 3 and 15 of the Plaint and consequential amendments. It has been submitted that the Defendant No. 6 has passed away on 17^th March, 2022 leaving behind one son and one daughter viz. the Defendant No.5, who is already a Defendant in the Suit and the proposed Defendant No.6(a), as his only legal heirs.

7. It is the case of the Applicant/Plaintiff that owing to the circumstances beyond the control of the Applicant, the interim application has been filed with the delay of 959 days from the date of death of Defendant No. 2 and of 797 days from the date of death of Defendant No. 6. The Applicant has also filed