Devolution of interest in representative litigation governed substitution under Order 22 Rule 10, preventing abatement on death.

Where a defendant is sued in a representative capacity and the dispute concerns management and possession of property attached to that office, the relevant question is devolution of interest during the proceeding. Order 22, Rule 10 of the Code of Civil Procedure applies to such devolution and is not confined to death-based substitution. A successor mahant elected after the incumbent's death could therefore be brought on record under Rule 10, and the proceeding did not abate merely because the successor was not impleaded within the limitation period for legal representatives under Rules 3 or 4.

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Issues: Whether, on the death of a mahant who was sued in a representative capacity, the appeal abated for failure to bring legal representatives on record within limitation, or whether the proceeding could continue against the successor mahant under Order 22, Rule 10 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

Analysis: The subject matter of the suit was the management and possession of the Dera and its properties, and the deceased defendant had been sued not in a personal capacity but as a de facto mahant. The relevant question was therefore one of devolution of interest in the property forming the subject matter of the suit. The rule applicable in such a situation is Order 22, Rule 10, which governs devolution of interest during the pendency of a suit or appeal and is not confined to devolution by death alone. Where the successor in office is elected after the death of the previous incumbent, the successor acquires the interest that was in dispute and may be brought on record under that provision. In such circumstances, the proceeding does not abate merely because the successor was not impleaded within the period applicable to legal representatives under Rules 3 or 4.

Conclusion: The appeal had not abated, and the successor mahant could be brought on record under Order 22, Rule 10 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a party is sued in a representative capacity and the disputed interest devolves on a successor during the pendency of the proceeding, substitution is governed by Order 22, Rule 10 rather than the rules applicable to legal representatives, and limitation for impleading legal representatives does not control such devolution.

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