Writ Procedure and substitution of deceased respondents: civil code rules do not apply automatically, but timely substitution remains necessary.

Order 22 of the Code of Civil Procedure does not apply per se to writ proceedings under Articles 226 and 227 because Section 141 excludes such proceedings from the ordinary civil procedure framework. Writ jurisdiction remains governed by its own procedural flexibility, and rigid importation of civil rules should not defeat its speedy and efficacious character. However, where the right to sue survives against a deceased respondent, substitution of the legal representatives is still required within a reasonable time; the limitation period for substitution serves as a useful guide, and delay may be condoned on sufficient cause. On the facts, no step was taken for substitution, so the writ petition was dismissed.

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Issues: Whether the procedural provisions of Order 22 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 apply per se to writ proceedings under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India, and whether the writ petition abated for failure to substitute the legal representatives of a deceased respondent within time.

Analysis: Section 141 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, as amended, excludes proceedings under Article 226 of the Constitution of India from the expression "proceedings" and therefore the suit procedure embodied in the Code does not automatically govern writ proceedings. Writ jurisdiction is extraordinary and intended to provide a speedy and efficacious remedy, so rigid importation of civil-court procedural rules may frustrate that purpose. At the same time, where the right to sue survives against the legal representatives of a deceased respondent, the petitioner cannot proceed against a dead person and must seek substitution within a reasonable time. The Court treated the period prescribed for substitution under Article 120 of the Limitation Act, 1963 as a useful guide, while holding that there is no automatic abatement of writ proceedings and that delay may be condoned on sufficient cause being shown.

Conclusion: Order 22 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 is not applicable per se to writ proceedings, but substitution of the deceased respondent's legal representatives is still required within a reasonable time where the right to sue survives; on the facts, the failure to take any step for substitution justified dismissal of the writ petition.

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