Supreme Court: In the matter relating to the executability of decree for permanent injunction against the legal representatives of judgment-debtor, the Bench of Arun Mishra and Amitava Roy, JJ said that normally personal action dies with person but this principle has application to limited kinds of causes of actions and hence, in view of the specific provisions contained in Section 50 CPC, such a decree can be executed against legal representative.
The Court noticed that If an injunction decree is capable of being enforced against a person other than the judgment-debtor by virtue of a statutory provision contained in Section 50 CPC, it can be executed equally against the son who inherits the estate of his father as well as against one who was joint with the father and brought on the record as his legal representative.
In the present case, the defendant in the original suit had sold 1.68 acres of land, though the land allotted to him on partition was only 1.58 acres. He had then tried to remove and destroy the wooden fence and made an effort to forcibly dispossess the plaintiff, the owner of the neighbouring property, thereby resulting into a permanent injunction. After his death, his heirs, in violation of the decree for permanent injunction, tried to forcibly dispossess the decree-holder from his property.
Taking note of the abovementioned facts, the Court said that the right which had been adjudicated in the suit in the present matter and the findings which have been recorded as basis for grant of injunction as to the disputed property which is heritable and partible would enure not only to the benefit of the legal heir of decree-holders but also would bind the legal representatives of the judgment-debtor. It is apparent from Section 50 CPC that when a judgment-debtor dies before the decree has been satisfied, it can be executed against legal representatives. Section 50 is not confined to a particular kind of decree. Decree for injunction can also be executed against legal representatives of the deceased judgment-debtor. [Prabhakara Adiga v. Gowri, 2017 SCC OnLine SC 153, decided on 20.02.2017]
