In Brief
The appellant and his deceased brother, as joint Hindu family members, filed a suit seeking a declaration that an adopted son had no rights to joint family agricultural property. The trial court dismissed the suit. During the appeal, the second appellant died. The High Court held the entire appeal abated because the legal representatives of the deceased appellant were not substituted. The Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal, holding that since the appellants' right was genuinely joint (not merely distinct co-ownership), allowing the surviving appellant to proceed would produce a decree irreconcilable with the final decree against the deceased appellant. Contradictory final decrees on the same subject matter cannot coexist.
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