In a situation where there was only one defendant and the right to sue survives even after his death or where there were multiple defendants in a civil suit but the right to sue was only with the deceased defendant, a party to the suit may file an application U/O XXII Rule 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure within a period of 90 days to bring the legal representatives of the deceased defendant on record. Such legal representatives will be considered as defendants in the ongoing civil suit after filing of the aforementioned application. Upon careful perusal of rule 4 a point to be noted is that even the plaintiff of the suit can file an application for bringing on record the legal representative of the deceased defendant. What does this mean?

Under Order XXII Rule 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), if a party to a civil suit dies and the right to sue survives, then the legal representatives of the deceased party must be brought on record by the other parties to the suit or the legal representatives themselves within 90 days from the death of the party.

In a situation where there was only one defendant and the right to sue survives even after his death, the plaintiff in the suit can file an application under Order XXII Rule 4 to bring the legal representatives of the deceased defendant on record. This allows the legal representatives to step into the shoes of the deceased defendant and continue the defense of the suit. In this scenario, the legal representatives will be considered as defendants in the ongoing civil suit after the filing of the application.

Therefore, it means that even the plaintiff in a civil suit can take the initiative to ensure that the legal representatives of a deceased defendant are brought on record to ensure that the suit can proceed effectively and fairly in the absence of the deceased party. The provision under Order XXII Rule 4 of the CPC allows for the smooth continuation of legal proceedings in such situations where one of the parties to the suit dies, ensuring that the rights and obligations of all parties are fairly adjudicated.