1. This Rule is directed against an order of the District Judge of Howrah, dated the 27th June. 1924 rejecting the appeal preferred fey the
petitioners on the ground that no appeal lay from the order of the Court below and in the alternative the Rule is directed against an order passed by
the Subordinate Judge of Howrah dated the 28th July 1923 (wrongly mentioned as dated the 8th July 1923 in the order-sheet issuing the Rule,).
No one appears on behalf of the opposite parties, though the service upon them has been found to be in order. The facts are that one Becharam
Singh instituted a suit against the petitioners in the Court of the Subordinate Judge of Howrah. Subsequent to the institution of the suit he died,
according to the petitioners, on the 21st February 1922 and according to the opposite party, on the 21st March 1922; On the 2nd June 1922, an
application was made on behalf of the widow for substitution in place of the deceased plaintiff on the allegation that the plaintiff had died on the
21st March 1922. On the 7th June 1922, the learned Subordinate Judge passed an ex parte order granting the application and ordering
substitution as prayed for. On the 2nd August 1922 the defendants-petitioners applied to have that order set aside on the ground that on the date
on which the application for substitution was made by the opposite party the suit had already abated and in proof of it they produced a copy of the
extract from the Register of births and deaths kept by the Calcutta Corporation. The learned Subordinate Judge, by his order dated the 12th
August, held that, as a matter of fact, Becharam had died on the 21st February 1922 and that the suit had abated on the date on which the
application was made. On the 16th September 1922 the opposite party again filed an application purporting to be one under Order XXII, Rule 9,
C. P.C., to set aside the order of abatement and to direct substitution of her name in place of the deceased plaintiff. That application was heard
after a long time ex parte in the absence of the petitioners. The learned Subordinate Judge granted that application on the 28th July 1923 holding
that the petitioners'' right to apply under Order XXII, Rule 9, C. P.C., for substitution and to pray for extension of time under Clause (3) of that
rule was not lost by the previous order of his predecessor holding that the suit had abated. The learned Subordinate Judge found that the opposite
party was not aware of the death of her husband within three months of his death. He accordingly set aside the order of abatement and restored
the suit to its file in the original number and ordered the issue of summonses upon the defendants. """"The petitioners thereupon filed an appeal to the
District Judge who held that no appeal lay to him. We have heard the learned Pleader who appears for the petitioners and have gone through the
papers in connection with this case and have come to the conclusion that the order passed by the learned District Judge is a correct one and
cannot be disturbed. Under Order XLIII, there is no appeal from an order setting aside an abatement. Besides the petition that was filed on the
16th September 1922 by the opposite party was virtually one for review of the order passed on the 12th August 1923; but the application itself
does not purport to be one for review. The prayer made in the application was that the order holding that the suit had abated might be discharged
under Order XXII, Rule 9 and substitution made. The Subordinate Judge before whom the matter came held that the petitioners had still the right
to apply under Order XXII, Rule 9 for setting aside the order of abatement. Be that as it may the real question that we are called upon to decide is
whether the order passed by the Subordinate Judge on the 28th July 1923 is one under Order XXII, Rule 9, C. P.C. We are of opinion that the
order is bad in law. The learned Subordinate Judge has not taken into consideration the period of limitation that is fixed by law for a party to apply
to set aside an order of abatement passed under Order XXII, Rule 9. The period fixed for the purpose under Article 171 is two months from the
date of abatement. In the present case the abatement took place on the 21st May according to the petitioners or on the 21st June according to the
opposite party. Whichever date is taken, the application filed by the opposite party for setting aside the order of abatement on the 16th September
1923 must be held to be barred by limitation. In this view we do not think that the learned Subordinate Judge was right in allowing the application
of the opposite party for setting aside the order of abatement.
2. The result is that this Rule is made absolute and the order passed by the Subordinate Judge of Hooghly on the 28th July 1923 set aside. We
make no order as to, costs.