Bringing a legal representative on record:
how long do you have?
Last reviewed: 2026-08-19 · quoted from the India Code bare-Act PDF
The date of death of the plaintiff, appellant, defendant or respondent, as the case may be.
The Schedule row, as the Act prints it
Article 120Description: Under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), to have the legal representative of a deceased plaintiff or appellant or of a deceased defendant or respondent, made a party.
Period: Ninety days.
Time from which period begins to run: The date of death of the plaintiff, appellant, defendant or respondent, as the case may be.
Open the bare Act on India Code →
In plain English
When a party to a pending case dies, the application to bring the legal heirs on record must be made within ninety days of the death; otherwise the case abates as against that party (with Article 121 then giving sixty days to set the abatement aside).
Where this comes up
- Plaintiff dies during trial; heirs must be substituted within 90 days
- Respondent in a pending appeal dies
What can reset or extend this period
General rules for entries in the Applications division. The full statutory quotes (ss.5, 12, 18-19, 6-8) are on the finder page.
Condonation — with a hard carve-out
Section 5 lets a late application be admitted on sufficient cause, EXCEPT applications under Order XXI CPC (execution). A late execution application under Article 136, or a late application to set aside an execution sale under Article 127, cannot be condoned at all.
Computation exclusions
s.12(1) excludes the first day; s.12(2) excludes pronouncement day and certified-copy time for applications for leave to appeal, revision or review; s.12(4) excludes award-copy time for set-aside applications; s.4 saves filings that fall due while the court is closed; s.14-15 and s.17 exclusions can also apply.
Acknowledgment — but not for execution
s.18's fresh-period rule covers suits and applications 'in respect of any property or right', but its Explanation (c) expressly excludes applications for the execution of decrees from its benefit.
Legal disability
ss.6-8 extend time for a person under legal disability for suits and execution applications, subject to s.8's three-year post-cessation ceiling.
This is a reference to the statutory text, not advice on a live matter. Limitation is brutally fact-sensitive — when the cause of action accrued, whether an acknowledgment or part-payment reset the clock, and which exclusions under ss.4-15 apply all turn on your specific facts. This page is a reference to the statutory text, not advice on a live matter, and it does not create an advocate-client relationship. A single day's error can be fatal to a claim: s.5 condonation never applies to suits, and several special-statute deadlines (Arbitration s.34(3), IBC s.61(2)) are hard ceilings no court can extend. Verify every period against the bare Act as currently amended and against current case law, and take advice on your own facts before acting. Provisions here were reviewed on 19 August 2026.