Substitution of legal heir in foreign exchange appeal: special statute prevails and delay may be condoned for sufficient cause.

The special foreign exchange statute, rather than the general procedural rules on abatement and substitution, governed an application to bring a deceased appellant's legal heir on record. Because the repealed and successor enactments expressly preserved the right of legal representatives to continue the pending appeal and prescribed no limitation period for impleadment, the delay was assessed on sufficient cause. The long gap in listing, together with the applicant's lack of knowledge of the death until the matter was re-listed, was treated as a satisfactory explanation. The delay was condoned and the legal heir was permitted to continue the appeal.

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Issues: Whether the delay in filing the application for impleadment of the deceased appellant's legal heir should be condoned, and whether the legal heir had a statutory right to continue the pending appeal.

Analysis: The limitation provisions governing appeals under the foreign exchange statutes were held not to govern an application for substitution of legal representatives. The relevant provisions under the repealed and successor enactments expressly preserved the right of legal representatives to continue the appeal and did not prescribe any limitation period for seeking impleadment. The long gap in listing of the appeal, coupled with the applicant's lack of knowledge until the matter was taken up again, constituted a satisfactory explanation for the delay. The special statutory scheme prevailed over the general procedural rules relating to abatement and substitution.

Conclusion: The delay was condoned and the legal heir was permitted to continue the appeal.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the governing special statute expressly provides for continuation of proceedings by legal representatives and does not prescribe a limitation period for substitution, delay in seeking impleadment may be condoned on sufficient cause being shown, especially where non-listing of the appeal explains the late knowledge of death.

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