Proper impleadment of legal representatives is mandatory before hearing an appeal against a deceased respondent's estate.

Under Section 2(11) CPC and Order 22 Rules 4, 5 and 11, a deceased respondent's estate must be properly represented before an appeal is heard when the right to sue survives. The Court noted that legal representatives, including an intermeddler, must be determined and brought on record first, and that the inquiry under Order 22 Rule 5 is confined to representation in that proceeding and does not decide title to the estate. As the deceased respondent's estate remained unrepresented when the appeal was decided, the hearing was not valid in law and the judgment could not displace the trial court decree. The matter was restored for fresh decision after impleadment of the proper legal representatives.

---

---

Issues: Whether the appeal could be heard and disposed of on merits without first determining who were the legal representatives of the deceased respondent and bringing them on record, and whether the resulting judgment was valid in law.

Analysis: Under Section 2(11) of the Code of Civil Procedure, a legal representative is one who in law represents the estate of the deceased, including an intermeddler. Order 22 Rules 4, 5 and 11 make it mandatory that when a respondent dies and the right to sue survives, the question of representation must be determined and the person or persons entitled to represent the estate must be brought on record before the appeal is heard. A determination under Order 22 Rule 5 is only for the limited purpose of representation in that proceeding and does not decide title to the estate. The estate of the deceased respondent having remained unrepresented when the High Court heard and decided the appeal, the hearing was not a hearing in the eye of law. The judgment rendered in such circumstances could not validly displace the decree of the trial court.

Conclusion: The appeal could not be decided on merits until the legal representatives of the deceased respondent were properly determined and impleaded; the High Court judgment was a nullity and had to be set aside, with the matter restored for fresh decision after impleadment of the proper legal representatives.

---