abatement

In civil procedure a suit abates when a plaintiff or defendant dies, the right to sue survives, and no application is made within the limitation period to bring the legal representatives on record. Order XXII CPC governs this. If the right to sue does not survive (for example, a purely personal claim), the suit ends on death without any question of substitution.

Abatement is not automatic dismissal on merits: the court may set it aside on sufficient cause, and delay can be condoned. In criminal law, an appeal against acquittal abates on the death of the accused, while an appeal against conviction and sentence of imprisonment may be continued by a near relative with the court's leave. The word also means a reduction, as in abatement of legacies or of rent.

Example

The defendant died in 2023 and his sons were not substituted within ninety days, so the suit abated against him under Order XXII Rule 4 CPC.

In Indian law

• Order XXII, Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (death, marriage and insolvency of parties)
• Article 120, Limitation Act, 1963 (90 days to bring legal representatives on record)

See also

legal representative · actio personalis moritur cum persona · condonation of delay · suit

Read more in the study notes

• Concurrent and consecutive sentences; appeals, revision and reference (Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita)
• Res judicata and bar to further suit (sections 11 and 12) (Civil Procedure Code and Limitation Act)
• Death, marriage and insolvency of parties; withdrawal and compromise of suits (Civil Procedure Code and Limitation Act)
• Appeals: first appeals, second appeals, appeals from orders and appeals to the Supreme Court (Civil Procedure Code and Limitation Act)
• Ancient and medieval writings, environmental jurisprudence and national environmental policy (Environmental Law)
• Common law and criminal law remedies for environmental harm (Environmental Law)