Supreme Court Legal Format
Affidavit for Deletion or Substitution of a Party After Death in a Supreme Court SLP
A pending Special Leave Petition may require a formal application when a petitioner or other party dies. Depending on whether the right to sue survives and whether the deceased party remains necessary for the proceedings, the appropriate relief may be substitution of the legal representatives, recording the death and proceeding with the surviving parties, deletion of a party where legally permissible, or setting aside abatement where substitution was not sought within the applicable time.
When is an affidavit required after the death of a party in an SLP?
An interlocutory application seeking substitution, deletion, recording of death, setting aside of abatement, or a connected procedural direction should ordinarily state the relevant facts clearly and be supported by an affidavit of a person competent to verify those facts. The affidavit should identify the deceased party, state the date of death, explain the status of the surviving parties or proposed legal representatives, and verify the facts relied on in the accompanying application.
The correct relief depends on the nature of the proceeding. Where the right to sue survives to the surviving petitioners alone, the Court may record the death and allow the proceeding to continue in the appropriate form. Where the deceased party's estate or interest must continue to be represented, substitution of the legal representatives is ordinarily required. A request merely to delete a deceased party should therefore be used only when deletion is procedurally and substantively appropriate in the particular case.
Applicable legal provisions
Order XXI Rules 7 and 8, Supreme Court Rules, 2013
Order XXI governs Special Leave Petitions (Civil). Rule 7 deals with bringing a legal representative on record where the person is sought to be impleaded as legal representative of a party to the proceedings below. Rule 8 applies where, after filing of the SLP and before its hearing, the record becomes defective because of the death or change of status of a party. In that situation, an application is made stating the proper person to be substituted or entered on the record.
Order XIX Rules 29 to 31, Supreme Court Rules, 2013
These rules govern change of parties in civil appeals. They provide for an application when the record becomes defective because of death or change of status, prescribe how substitution questions are dealt with, and apply the abatement provisions of Order XXII CPC to Supreme Court appeals and proceedings, subject to the Supreme Court Rules.
Order XXII CPC: death, legal representatives and abatement
Order XXII of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 is the principal CPC framework dealing with death, marriage and insolvency of parties. Rule 1 states the basic principle that death does not cause abatement if the right to sue survives. Rule 2 deals with a death among several plaintiffs or defendants where the right survives to the remaining parties. Rules 3 and 4 address substitution following the death of a plaintiff or defendant. Rule 5 deals with determination of a dispute about who is the legal representative, and Rule 9 deals with the effect of abatement and the procedure for setting it aside.
Sample affidavit format for an application after death of a petitioner
The following is a general drafting format. Replace the blanks and adapt the relief to the actual procedural requirement, such as substitution of legal representatives, recording the death and deleting a name where permissible, or setting aside abatement.
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
I.A. NO. ________ OF 20____
IN
SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (C) NO. ________ OF 20____
(Arising out of the final judgment and order dated ________ passed by the High Court of ____________________ in ____________________ No. ________ of 20____)
IN THE MATTER OF:
____________________________ & ORS. ... PETITIONER(S)
VERSUS
____________________________ & ORS. ... RESPONDENT(S)
AFFIDAVIT
I, ____________________________, son/daughter/wife of ____________________________, aged about ______ years, resident of ________________________________________________, do hereby solemnly affirm and state as under:
1. I am the Petitioner No. ______ / authorised representative / person acquainted with the facts of the above matter and am competent to swear this affidavit.
2. I have read and understood the accompanying interlocutory application seeking ________________________________________________. The facts stated in the application are true and correct to my knowledge and belief.
3. Petitioner No. ______, Shri/Smt. ____________________________, died on ______________ at ____________________________. A copy of the death certificate is filed with the accompanying application, wherever required.
4. The right to continue the proceedings ________________________________________________________________. The persons, if any, required to represent the estate or interest of the deceased are stated in the accompanying application.
5. The accompanying application has been prepared on my instructions and the relief sought therein is necessary for bringing the record of this Hon'ble Court in conformity with the present status of the parties.
6. Where substitution is sought: the proposed legal representative(s), namely ________________________________________________, are the proper person(s) to be brought on record for the reasons stated in the accompanying application.
7. Where deletion or recording of death without substitution is sought: the proceeding can continue with the surviving party or parties and the deceased party is not required to be substituted for the reasons stated in the accompanying application.
DEPONENT
VERIFICATION
I, the above-named deponent, do hereby verify that the contents of paragraphs 1 to ______ of this affidavit are true and correct to my knowledge and belief, no part of them is false and nothing material has been concealed therefrom.
Verified at ____________________ on this ______ day of ____________________, 20____.
DEPONENT
Practical filing notes
Identify the correct application: If legal representatives must be brought on record, the application should seek substitution. If the prescribed period has expired and abatement has occurred, the filing may also require an application to set aside abatement and, where necessary, an application for condonation of delay.
Use an amended memo of parties when required: After an order allowing substitution or deletion, the Registry may require the memo of parties to be amended to reflect the Court's order.
Support factual assertions: The date of death, identity of legal representatives and circumstances relied on for deletion or substitution should be stated accurately and supported by the documents required in the particular case.
Check current filing requirements: Supreme Court filing practice, e-filing fields, document categories and defect requirements can change. The current Supreme Court Rules, amendments, practice directions and filing portal should therefore be checked before filing.
Related Supreme Court formats
Application for deletion of name of petitioner from Special Leave Petition due to death
Special Leave Petition (Civil) under Article 136 of the Constitution
Affidavit to be filed with a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court
Advocate-on-Record certificate for Special Leave Petition
This sample is a general legal format and should be adapted to the facts, the nature of the surviving cause of action, the status of the deceased party and the current Supreme Court filing requirements.