In O.S.No.431 of 1935 on the file of the Court of the District Munsiff of Kandapur, a mortgage decree was passed by which the defendants therein were to pay a sum of money to the plaintiffs within a stipulated period in default of which a final decree had to be passed for sale of the mortgaged property. The defendants were members of a joint Hindu family of which the first defendant was the father and manager and defendants 2 and 3 were his two minor sons. The preliminary decree was passed on 30th November, 1935 and since no payment was made, a final decree Ex.B-2 was passed on 10th July, 1936. In pursuance of that final decree, the hypotheca was sold by public auction on 16th January, 1937 and the mortgagee decree-holder himself became the purchaser. Before the sale was confirmed, the first defendant Manjunatha Hebbar died on 23rd January, 1937. No steps were taken to declare that defendants 2 and 3 were the legal representatives of the first defendant and no attempt was made to appoint anybody as guardian ad litem of the minor defendants 2 and 3. But the sale was confirmed on 24th February, 1937, and the sale certificate Ex.P-3 dated 15th March, 1937, was issued