Order XXII of Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 : Supreme Court Clarifies the Position

Order XXII of Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 : Supreme Court Clarifies the Position

An important Judgment was passed by Hon'ble Supreme Court on 19 January 2021 which dealt with Order XXII of Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

It has been commented in Venigalla Koteswaramma v Malempati Suryamba & Ors [2021] GCtR 150 (SC) thus : - 

"The rules of procedure for dealing with death, marriage, and insolvency of parties in a civil litigation are essentially governed by the provisions contained in Order XXII of the Code. Though the provisions in Rule 1 to Rule 10A of Order XXII primarily refer to the proceedings in a suit but, by virtue of Rule 11, the said provisions apply to the appeals too and, for the purpose of an appeal, the expressions “plaintiff”, “defendant” and “suit” could be read as “appellant”, “respondent” and “appeal” respectively. Rule 1 of Order XXII of the Code declares that the death of a plaintiff or defendant shall not cause the suit to abate if the right to sue survives. When read for the purpose of appeal, this provision means that the death of an appellant or respondent shall not cause the appeal to abate if the right to sue survives. Rule 2 of Order XXII of the Code ordains the procedure where one of the several plaintiffs or defendants dies and right to sue survives to the surviving plaintiff(s) alone, or against the surviving defendant(s) alone. The same procedure applies in appeal where one of the several appellants or respondents dies and right to sue survives to the surviving appellant(s) alone, or against the surviving respondent(s) alone. The procedure is that the Court is required to cause an entry to that effect to be made on record and the appeal is to proceed at the instance of the surviving appellant(s) or against the surviving respondent(s), as the case may be. However, by virtue of Rule 4 read with Rule 11 of Order XXII of the Code, in case of death of one of the several respondents, where right to sue does not survive against the surviving respondent or respondents as also in the case where the sole respondent dies and the right to sue survives, the contemplated procedure is that the legal representatives of the deceased respondent are to be substituted in his place; and if no application is made for such substitution within the time limited by law, the appeal abates as against the deceased respondent."

Kindly note that full text Judgments of Hon'ble Supreme Court can be downloaded absolutely free of cost (without any charges except internet data) from the official website at the link 

https://main.sci.gov.in/daily-order

Then entering the date of Judgment, for example, as 19 January 2021.

Written by 

Vishal

Delhi

Notice : Copyright of above blog and its content including headline vests with Vishal. Above should Not be reproduced in any form in newspapers/websites/Ph.D. thesis/College projects/ law firms' newsletters/law journals/books/book chapters without prior written permission. Fair use should be in terms of Copyright Act, 1957. Any violation will make violator liable for Pecuniary compensation with interest towards the author irrespective of the profit made. All disputes shall be subject to Delhi Jurisdiction.