Co-ownership in equity of redemption allows additional heirs to participate in legal proceedings post-mortem of the original appellant.

1 S. A. No. 426 of 1974 arose from O. S. No. 772 of 1965 of the Munsiff's Court, Shertallay. That suit was for redemption and recovery of possession of a property outstanding in a mortgage (Ext. P6) dated 12-6-1101. On the date of suit the equity of redemption vested in the tarwad of the plaintiff. The plaintiff, a junior member of the tarwad, instituted the suit alleging that in spite of his request, the karnavan did not do anything for recovery of possession of the property from the mortgagee. The mortgage right was outstanding with defendants 1 to 5. The defendants claimed that the transaction amounted to a kanom and that they were not liable to be evicted. In Second Appeal it was held that Ext. P6 was a mortgage and the suit for redemption was maintainable. The suit was remanded to the Trial Court for disposal according to law. While the Second Appeal was pending the appellant plaintiff died and his personal heirs got themselves impleaded as appellants 2 to 10. The third respondent died and her legal representatives are respondents 11 to 13. The 9th respondent was recorded as the legal representative of the 10th respondent, who also died pending Second Appeal.

2 R. P. No. 3 of 1980 was filed by respondents 11 and 12 in the Second Appeal. According to them, though the third respondent, who was the third defendant in the suit, died on 12-7-1973, after the appeal was disposed of by the Principal Sub Judge, Alleppey, and before the Second Appeal was filed, her legal, representatives were impleaded only on 21-2-1977. There was nobody to represent the third defendant when the appeal was filed. The petitioners were not served with notice regarding the appeal and they were not in a position to contest the appeal. In the application for review they contended that since the suit was brought on behalf of the tarwad the personal heirs of the appellant were incompetent to proceed with the Second Appeal and since they themselves were not served with notice in Second Appeal, the decision in the Second Appeal is vitiated by errors apparent on the face of the record. The petitioners have been granted certificate of purchase under S.72(k) of the Kerala Land Reforms Act, in respect of 60 cents of land and this fact was not brought to the notice of the Court when the Second Appeal was heard.

3 The present petition was filed by the petitioners for getting themselves impleaded in the application for review. In the affidavit filed by the first petitioner it is stated that herself and her children, who are the other petitioners, are members of the branch tarwad of the original plaintiff. The suit was filed by the plaintiff for and on behalf of the branch tarwad. The personal heirs of the deceased original plaintiff are entitled only to a share which the original plaintiff had in the property mortgaged. The petitioners allege that the additional appellants in the Second Appeal have colluded with the petitioners in the application for review and therefore it is only proper that the petitioners are also brought on record so that the Court could effectively and completely adjudicate and settle all the questions involved in the case.

4 The petition is opposed. According to the respondents, the petitioners have no locus standi to file the petition. Since the tarwad was not represented in the Second Appeal after the death of the original plaintiff whatever right the tarwad had was lost and the petitioners have therefore no right to get themselves impleaded. The question therefore is whether the petitioners are entitled to get themselves impleaded.

5 There is no doubt that originally the suit was filed for and on behalf of the plaintiff's tarwad. It is also not disputed that after the death of the original plaintiff, who was the appellant in the Second Appeal, the tarwad as such did not get itself impleaded. The Second Appeal was successfully conducted by the personal heirs of the original plaintiff. Under the Hindu Succession Act the right of a member of th