Joint and indivisible decree: abatement against one respondent bars further appeal where the deceased party's final rights would be affected.

An appeal against a joint and indivisible decree cannot proceed against the surviving respondent after abatement has occurred against another joint decree-holder without substitution of legal representatives. Order XXII Rule 4 CPC causes abatement against the deceased respondent when no legal representative is brought on record, while Order I Rule 9 CPC applies only if the controversy can be decided without disturbing rights that have already become final. Because the decree and relief were joint, the appellate court could not alter the surviving respondent's position without directly or indirectly affecting the deceased respondent's share. The appeal against the surviving respondent was therefore not maintainable and had to be dismissed.

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Issues: Whether, after the appeal abated against one of the joint decree-holders, the appeal could still proceed against the surviving respondent where the decree was joint and the relief challenged was inseverable.

Analysis: Under Order XXII, Rule 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, the appeal abated against the deceased respondent when no legal representative was brought on record. Order I, Rule 9 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 permits the Court to deal with the controversy so far as the rights and interests of the parties actually before it are concerned, but only where the matter can be effectively and lawfully decided without affecting the rights that have become final in favour of the deceased respondent. Where the decree is joint and indivisible, the appellate Court cannot modify it directly or indirectly in the absence of the legal representatives of the deceased respondent. The joint nature of the claim and the joint decree meant that the Court could not determine the surviving respondent's share without necessarily determining the deceased respondent's share as well.

Conclusion: The appeal against the surviving respondent could not proceed and had to be dismissed.

Ratio Decidendi: When an appeal is directed against a joint and indivisible decree, abatement against one joint decree-holder prevents the appellate Court from proceeding against the remaining respondent if deciding the appeal would necessarily affect the rights that have become final in favour of the deceased respondent.

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