O.C.J. Suit No. 827 of 1930. Case: Tarachand Ghanshamdas Vs Mohideen Abdul Gafoor. High Court of Bombay (India)
| Case Number | O.C.J. Suit No. 827 of 1930 |
| Judges | Tyabji, J. |
| Issue | Family Law |
| Citation | AIR 1935 Bom 401, 1935 (37) BomLR 654, 158 IndCas 701 |
| Judgement Date | March 13, 1935 |
| Court | High Court of Bombay (India) |
Judgment:
Tyabji, J.
-
In this suit defendant No. 2 and his sons defendants Nos. 1 and 3 to 7 are sued on the footing that the father and the sons are members of a firm and are liable as partners for the transactions entered into by one or the other of them on behalf of the firm.
-
On Mr. Bhagvati's opening I pointed out the difficulty of his being able to make out a case on this basis, and of the probability that the suit was misconceived, being framed on the assumption that the father and sons stood in a position similar to that of members of a joint Hindu family.
-
A Hindu may carry on business with property to which for the time he is entitled solely or as a coparcener. If sons are born to him, the sons may by birth acquire an interest in the partnership property. The position then would be anomalous in that the partnership property would become subject to the rights of persons who are not partners and who have come into existence after the firm has commenced to do business. The notion of the joint Hindu family firm has, in consequence, arisen, so that all the coparceners who become entitled to the property may to some extent be treated as members of the firm, or, if minors become entitled to the benefit of the partnership: Indian Contract Act, Section 247. But there is no similar cause by which the sons of a Muslim, governed by Muslim law, can in this way slide into the position of partners. They do not by birth acquire during the lifetime of the father any interest in the property, belonging, prior to their birth, to the father; and unless it is proved that the father and sons have entered into a contract of partnership, the sons do not become partners, the partnership property remains exclusively that of the father and there is no object in or ground for suing the sons in regard to...
To continue reading
Request your trial