Paramaswami Ayyangar vs Alamu Nachiar Ammal, Minor Represented ... on 23 August, 1918
The legal representative, as defined in the Code, section, 2, Clause 11, means a person who in law represents the estate of a deceased person ; so he need not necessarily be the beneficial owner of that estate. But even if that be so, the order of the Collector not being before us, it is not possible to say whether it refers to the arrears of rent sued for and confers on the respondent the exclusive right to continue the suit or not. Unless the declaration by the Collector is given retrospective effect, it can scarcely affect the arrears of rent which had already accrued and had been sued for; and there- is no reason to suppose that such effect should be given to it. If the Collector's order is to take effect only from its date, petitioner will be the landholder qua the rent sued for, under Section 3, Clause 5, if his claim to collect it under the Will is established. See Sundaram Iyer v. Kulathu Aiyer 31 Ind. Cas. 81 : 2 L.W. 867 : 18 M.L.T. 316 : 29 M.L.J. 505 : (1915) M.W.N. 731 : 39 M. 1018. In that case it was held that a person to whom arrears of rent were due was a landholder though his estate had terminated. If he is such a landholder, petitioner will be the proper person to continue the suit under the Estates Land Act in the Revenue Court. I, therefore, agree that the order of the Collector, under Section 3, Clause 5, is not shown to affect the question who the proper legal representative of the deceased plaintiff is and for the purpose of deciding it, it seems necessary that the' genuineness and the validity of the petitioner's Will should be enquired into. I, therefore, agree in the order proposed by my learned brother.