Partnership over property exploitation extends beyond trade, and successor partners remain bound to account for the full period.

Partnership under Section 239 of the Contract Act is not confined to commercial trading; where persons combine property, labour or skill to exploit house property and share profits, a partnership may arise. On the facts, the house property had been treated as part of the partnership arrangement, and the defendants, having succeeded to their predecessor's position, assumed his rights and liabilities. The fact that one member of a joint family entered the partnership did not exclude the possibility that other family members were also partners on the evidence. The defendants were therefore bound to render accounts for the full period directed by the trial court, not merely from their father's death.

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Issues: Whether the parties continued to be partners in respect of the house property and other assets, and whether the defendants were liable to render accounts for the entire period claimed rather than only from the death of their father.

Analysis: The expression "business" in Section 239 of the Contract Act was not confined to an industrial or commercial venture. A partnership may subsist where persons combine property, labour or skill to let out property and share the profits. On the facts found, the house property had long been dealt with as part of the partnership arrangement, and the defendants, having stepped into the place of their predecessor in the partnership, took over his rights and liabilities. The fact that one member of a joint family entered the partnership did not, by itself, exclude the possibility that other family members had also become partners on the facts.

Conclusion: The parties were partners, and the defendants were bound to account for the full period for which accounts were directed by the trial court, not merely from the date of their father's death.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded, and the decree limiting the accounting period was set aside in favour of a broader accounting liability.

Ratio Decidendi: Partnership under Section 239 of the Contract Act is not limited to commercial trading; where the parties combine property and share profits from its exploitation, a partnership may arise and its successor members remain bound by the predecessor's rights and liabilities.

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