SHAKUNTLA DEVI Vs. PARMA AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) CHALLENGE herein is to the judgment and decree dated 30.5.2014 passed by learned District Judge, Mandi, in Civil Appeal No. 47/2013(2012), whereby the judgment and decree passed by learned Civil Judge (Senior Division), Jogindernagar, District Mandi in Civil Suit No. 228/07, has been affirmed and the appeal dismissed.

(2.) APPELLANT Bala Ram has passed away on 28.2.2014, i.e., during the pendency of the appeal in the lower appellate Court. The appeal, however, has been dismissed by learned lower appellate Court without taking note of his death vide judgment and decree impugned before this Court in the present appeal. The impugned judgment, therefore, admittedly is against dead persons, i.e., respondent No. 5 Bala Ram. There is no quarrel so as to he died well before hearing arguments in the appeal by the lower appellate Court.

(3.) A co -ordinate Bench of this Court in Jagan Nath and others versus Smt. Ishwari Devi, : 1988 (2) Shim. L.C. 273, has held that the question of substitution of legal representatives of a deceased party and the abatement of the suit/appeal for want of consequential steps has to be decided by that very Court where at the time of death of such party the lis was pending. Consequently, the judgment under challenge was set aside and the case was remanded to the lower appellate Court for deciding the questions of substitution of legal representatives of the deceased party and abatement of the appeal, if any.