A dispute over legal-representative status requires an inquiry under Order XXII Rule 5.

Malanbee, the original plaintiff in a suit seeking cancellation of a gift deed and an injunction, died during the suit.

Persons claiming through her sought substitution and setting aside of abatement through I.A. Nos. 3 to 5.

The defendant disputed their status as her legal representatives.

The Trial Court allowed the applications on 30 January 2025.

The defendant challenged that order under Article 227, arguing that the Trial Court had not conducted an inquiry into the disputed legal-representative status.

Whether the Trial Court was required to conduct an inquiry under Order XXII Rule 5 CPC when the applicants’ status as legal representatives was disputed

Whether the order allowing I.A. Nos. 3 to 5 without such an inquiry should be set aside

Order XXII Rule 5 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 requires the court to determine whether a person is the legal representative of a deceased plaintiff or defendant when that question arises.

The provision was the basis for the Court’s determination of the procedural requirement in this case.

The defendant had disputed the applicants’ relationship to Malanbee and their entitlement to represent her estate.

Because the question of legal representation was contested, the Trial Court was required to determine it through an inquiry under Order XXII Rule 5 CPC.

It had allowed the applications without conducting that inquiry; the High Court therefore held that the order violated the rule.

It directed the Trial Court to reconsider the applications afresh in accordance with Order XXII Rule 5 CPC and reserved liberty to the petitioner to bring the legal representatives of deceased respondent No. 1(c) on record.