Partner liability after firm dissolution remains enforceable for sales tax on turnover earned during business operations.

Under the U.P. Sales Tax Act, the definition of "dealer" was read to include both the firm and its individual partners carrying on the business, so tax liability attached to every dealer for turnover earned while the business was active. Section 8A on registration did not create a separate legal entity for the firm, and section 18 was treated as consistent with liability for the period of actual trading despite later dissolution. The absence of an express saving provision like section 44 of the Income-tax Act did not relieve former partners from liability. Assessment and recovery from a former partner were therefore held permissible.

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Issues: Whether, under the U.P. Sales Tax Act, assessment can be made and tax recovered from a partner after dissolution of the firm for the period when the firm carried on business.

Analysis: The definition of "dealer" in section 2(c) was treated as including not merely the firm but also the individual partners carrying on the business. Section 3 fastened the tax liability on every dealer, and section 8A, dealing with registration, did not create a separate legal existence for the firm distinct from its partners. Section 18, which requires notice on change in the constitution of a firm or discontinuance of business and provides for proportionate reduction of tax, was read as consistent with liability for the period during which the business was actually carried on. The absence of an express provision like section 44 of the Indian Income-tax Act was held not to mean that partners escaped liability after dissolution, and the authorities cited on different statutory schemes did not govern the present Act.

Conclusion: Assessment and recovery from the petitioner, as a former partner, were held permissible; the challenge failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Under the U.P. Sales Tax Act, a firm and its partners are not treated as wholly separate assessees for liability to tax on turnover earned while the business was carried on, and dissolution does not extinguish the partners' liability for that period.

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