Partnership registration renewal depends on continuity of the firm during the year, and a later deed may relate back if terms remain unchanged.

Registration under section 27 of the Kerala Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1950 requires a firm constituted by an instrument of partnership that specifies the partners' shares and supports the firm's existence for the relevant accounting year. A fresh deed executed during the year does not, by itself, defeat renewal if it records that the same partnership was carried on from the beginning of that year on identical terms. On the facts stated, the deed related back to the commencement of the accounting year, so the assessee-firm was entitled to renewal of registration for the assessment years 1965-66 and 1966-67.

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Issues: Whether the assessee-firm was entitled to renewal of registration for the assessment years 1965-66 and 1966-67 under section 27 of the Kerala Agricultural Income-tax Act, 1950, when the fresh deed of partnership was executed during the relevant period.

Analysis: Registration under section 27 requires a firm constituted under an instrument of partnership specifying the shares of the partners. The decisive requirement is that the partnership should have existed throughout the relevant accounting year and that the instrument should support that existence on the date of the application. A deed executed during the accounting year does not defeat registration if it recites that the partnership was carried on from the beginning of the year on the same terms and conditions. On the facts, the fresh deed recorded continuation of the same partnership and related back to the commencement of the accounting year.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to registration for the assessment years in question.

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