Legal representative under Order 22 Rule 4 CPC can include a will beneficiary with sufficient interest in the estate.

A person claiming under a registered will may be impleaded as a legal representative under Order 22 Rule 4 CPC if he has sufficient interest to represent the deceased's estate in pending proceedings. Section 2(11) CPC is not confined to a legal heir, and the enquiry at substitution stage is limited to representation of the estate, not determination of succession or heirship. Where the applicant had a registered will in his favour and no rival claimant with a better immediate right to represent the estate had appeared, substitution was treated as maintainable and rejection of substitution with abatement could not stand.

---

---

Issues: Whether a person claiming under a registered will could be impleaded as a legal representative under Order 22 Rule 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, and whether enquiry into heirship was determinative for that purpose.

Analysis: Section 2(11) of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, shows that a legal representative is not confined to a legal heir. A person who has sufficient interest to represent the estate in pending proceedings may be brought on record even if his title to the estate is disputed. The enquiry under Order 22 Rule 4 is limited to representation of the estate in the litigation and does not decide succession or heirship. The existence of a registered will in favour of the applicant gave him a reasonable basis to represent the deceased appellant's estate, and no rival claimant with a better immediate right to represent the estate had come forward.

Conclusion: The applicant was entitled to be impleaded as the legal representative of the deceased appellant, and the order rejecting substitution and recording abatement could not be sustained.

---