Necessary party impleadment under Order 1 Rule 10 upheld for deceased purchaser's legal representatives in a sale deed challenge.

Order 22 Rule 4 applies only where a defendant dies during the pendency of the suit, so it could not be invoked for a person who had died before institution. A prior dismissal of an application under that rule for non-maintainability, without any decision on merits, did not create res judicata against a later request under Order 1 Rule 10. The Court reaffirmed that Order 1 Rule 10 allows necessary parties to be added where their presence is required for an effective and complete adjudication of the real dispute; in a suit challenging a sale deed, the purchaser or the purchaser's legal representatives are necessary parties. The legal representatives were therefore validly impleaded, subject to limitation.

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Issues: Whether the legal representatives of a defendant who had died before the suit was filed could be impleaded under Order 1 Rule 10 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, after an earlier application under Order 22 Rule 4 of the Code had been dismissed as not maintainable.

Analysis: Order 22 Rule 4 applies only when the death of a defendant occurs during the pendency of the suit, and therefore could not be invoked where the defendant had already died before institution of the suit. The earlier dismissal of the application under Order 22 Rule 4 was only on the ground of non-maintainability and involved no adjudication on merits, so it did not operate as res judicata against a subsequent application under Order 1 Rule 10. Order 1 Rule 10 confers wide power to add or substitute parties whose presence is necessary for an effective and complete adjudication of the real controversy. In a suit challenging a sale deed, the purchaser or, if deceased, the purchaser's legal representatives are necessary parties. The Court also emphasised that procedural rules are intended to advance justice and that a mere wrong mention of a provision should not defeat a bona fide attempt to bring proper parties on record, subject to limitation.

Conclusion: The legal representatives could validly be impleaded under Order 1 Rule 10, and the application was maintainable notwithstanding the earlier dismissal under Order 22 Rule 4.

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