An application to bring on record the legal representatives of a deceased plaintiff will be governed by Art. 120 of the Limitation Act, 1963 and the period of limitation is ninety days from the date of death.

G.R.MAJITHIA, J.

1. This judgement disposes of Civil Revision No. 2952 of 1989 and 551 of 1991 since common question of law arises for determination therein.

2. The only question which arises for determination is whether an application to bring on record legal representatives of a deceased plaintiff will be governed by Art. 120 or Art. 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963 .

3. Reference to relevant facts has been made from the pleadings in Civil Revision No. 2952 of 1989. Mam Chand, one of the plaintiffs, instituted a suit for possession of the disputed property on 8/04/1981. He died on February, 1988. His widow, two sons and two daughters moved an application for being impleaded as legal representatives of the deceased. The defendants contested the application on the ground that it was filed beyond time and that the suit had abated. The trial Judge, relying upon the decision of this Court reported as Har Devi V/s. Joginder Singh, 1988 PLJ 375, held that the legal representatives of the deceased plaintiff could move the application for impleading them as parties to the suit within three years of the date of death of the deceased. The defendants have challenged this order in this petition.

4. When this revision petitions came up for hearing, the learned Chief Justice doubted the correctness of the judgement rendered in Har Devis case (supra) and by his order dated 9/11/1990 ordered that the case be put up before a Division Bench for decision. It is how the revision petitions have been placed before us for disposal.

5. Article 120 of the Limitation Act, 1963 (for short, the Act) reads thus :-

" Description of suit Period of Limitation Time from which period begins to run. 120. Under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 to have the legal representative of a deceased plaintiff or appellant or of a deceased defendant or respondent, made a party. Ninety days The date of death of the plaintiff, appellant, defendant, or respondent, as the case may be."

A plain reading of Article 120 show that the time runs from the date of death of the plaintiff or appellant, as the case may be, and the period of limitation is ninety days from that date. The onus is on the applican2 to prove the date of death of the deceased plaintiff or appellant as the case may be, and that the application has to be made within the period prescribed by this Article. In Har Devis case (supra), our learned brother A. L. Bahri, J. took the view that Art. 120 of the Act is not attracted when the application is made by the legal representatives to get themselves impleaded as such. Such an application would be governed by the provisions of Art. 137, of the Act, which is residuary provision and provides for a period of three years from the date the right to apply accrues. The view taken by our learned brother A. L. Bahri, J. Stands overruled by the apex Courts decision in Mahant Niranjan Dass V/s. Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee, Amritsar, AIR 1992 SC 492. In that case the apex Court held that the application to bring on record the legal representatives of the deceased plaintiff will be governed by Art. 120 of the Act. It will be useful to reproduce the observations of the apex Court

"Learned counsel for the applicant brought to our notice and placed reliance on a decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Smt. Har Devi V/s. Joginder Singh, reported in 1988 Civil Court Cases 517 (P and H) and contended that the limitation in this case should be considered as three years as provided under Art. 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963 . We see no force in the above contention of the learned counsel for the applicant. Art. 120 of the Limitation Act, 1963 clearly provides a period of 90 days for having the legal representative of a deceased plaintiff or appellant or of a deceased defendant or respondent to be made a party. In our view, the language of Art. 120 is clear and according to this the application in the present case ought to have been filed within 90 days of th