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63. Supreme Court in case of Shambhu Prasad Agarwal and others vs. Bhola Ram Agarwal (2000) 9 SCC 714 has held that where an executor dies, his heirs cannot be substituted because the executor possessed personal rights, but this is not applicable where the heirs of a legatee apply for issue of letters of administration. It is held that the appellants in that case could file a petition for issue of letters of administration even at that stage and since considerable time has elapsed, interest of justice demands that the proceedings should come to an end as early as possible and an appeal shall not be dismissed merely on a highly technical ground. Paragraphs 2 and 5 of the judgment of the Supreme Court read thus :-

It is true that where an executor dies, his heirs cannot be substituted because the executor possessed personal right, but this is not applicable where the heirs of a legatee apply for issue of letters of administration. It is not disputed that today the appellants can file a petition for issue of letter of administration. Since considerable time has elapsed, we feel that the interest of justice demands that the proceedings should come to an end as early as possible and we should not dismiss this appeal merely on highly technical ground."