SATYA NARAIN SINGH Vs. LALJEE SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Four of the plaintiffs are appellants in this second appeal. There were 6 plaintiffs when the suit was originally filed. The suit was for declaration of title and recovery of possession in respect of the suit land, being about 3 kathas in area. The suit was decreed. An appeal was preferred by the defendants first set. Ramsarup Singh and Ramjiwan Singh (Plaintiffs Nos. 3 and 4) were made Respondents 3 and 4 in the appeal. It is not in dispute that these two plaintiffs-respondents died during the pendency of the appeal in the court below. It is also not in dispute that there was no substitution of the heirs of the deceased plaintiff-respondents. The title appeal, however, was allowed and the suit has been dismissed.

(2.) The first contention that has been raised on behalf of the appellants in this Court is that the plaintiff-respondents Nos. 3 and 4 having died in the court below and no substitution having taken place, the appeal in the court below had abated. Consequently, the judgment and the decree of the lower appellate court must be set aside.

(3.) In this Court, an affidavit has been filed on behalf of the Respondents, in which a genealogical table has been given and it has been stated that appellant No. 1, who is the eldest member of the family, is the Karta of the family and represented the interests of each and every member of the family, including the heirs and legal representatives of the deceased plaintiff-respondents Nos. 3 and 4, in the lower appellate court.