(1.) This is a revision application by the defendants arising out of a suit instituted by the plaintiff to recover a sum of money. One Ram Sunder had executed a pronote in favour of the plaintiff. He died. The defendants are the brothers of Ram Sunder, deceased. The plaintiff instituted a suit against them to recover the amount due on foot of the pro-note. Several pleas were taken in defence, but it is not necessary to refer to them. The learned Judge of the Court below found that the execution of the pronote was proved. He held that Ram Sunder and his brothers constituted a joint family and therefore the brothers were legal representatives of the deceased. The suit was decreed against them to the extent of the assets of the deceased which might be proved to have come into their hands. Three of the defendants have preferred this revision application against the decree made by the Court below. The only question for the de-termination in this case is as to whether or not the brothers of the deceased can be said to he his legal representatives against whom a decree could be passed in respect of the amount borrowed by him.
(2.) I have considered this question. It appears that there are conflicting decisions on this point. Some High Courts have held that the members of the joint family, who succeed to the family, estate by survivorship are not legal representatives of the deceased inasmuch as they take the holder's estate by survivorship and not by succession. On the other hand some High Courts have held that they are the legal representatives of the deceased coparcener within the meaning of Section 2, Sub- clause 11, Civil P.C. It may be necessary some day to have a Full Bench decision on this point. But I am not inclined at present to refer this matter to a larger Bench in view of the opinion expressed in a ruling of this Court Tamiz Bano v. Nand Kishore 1927 All. 459. In that case it was held that: A decree could be had against the legal representatives of a deceased debtor whether they had any assets of the deceased in their hands or not. How the decree when obtained was to be executed was a matter to be ascertained thereafter.
(3.) The principal question which is to be considered is whether the brothers of a deceased person in a joint family can be said to be his legal representatives. In fee Civil Procedure Code in Section 2, Sub-section 11 "legal representative" has been defined thus: Legal representative means a person who represents the estate of a deceased person, and includes any person who intermeddles with the estate of the deceased and where a party sues or is sued in representative character the person on whom the estate devolves on the death of the party so suing or sued.