Strict compliance for partnership registration renewal requires prior division or credit of profits before filing the application.

Renewal of registration for a continuing partnership under section 26A required strict compliance with the prescribed rules and declaration requirements. The application was not time-barred because it was filed before the last date under the amended rule, and the omission to state the earlier year's registration date did not make it invalid on these facts. However, the application failed on the substantive requirement that the previous year's profits or loss had actually been divided or credited before filing. Because registration conferred a statutory privilege, that condition had to be satisfied strictly, and the renewal application was therefore incomplete and invalid on the merits.

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Issues: Whether the application for renewal of registration of a firm for the assessment year 1952-53 was barred by time or otherwise invalid for want of compliance with the prescribed rules and declaration requirements.

Analysis: The application for renewal was made before the last date specified under the amended rule and could not be treated as time-barred merely because the rule itself had been amended after the earlier date mentioned by the Tribunal. The failure to fill in the date of registration of the earlier year did not, on the facts, make the application incorrect or incomplete, since that registration had not yet been granted when the renewal application was filed. As to the declaration regarding division or credit of profits, the form and the amended rules showed that, for a continuing firm seeking renewal, actual division or credit of the profits or loss of the previous year was required before a valid application could be made. Registration under section 26A conferred a statutory privilege and therefore strict compliance with the prescribed conditions was necessary. The alternative wording relied upon was not available to a continuing firm.

Conclusion: The renewal application was not barred by time, but it was incomplete in a material respect because the profits or loss of the previous year had not been actually divided or credited before the application was made; the question was answered in the affirmative and against the assessee on the validity issue.

Ratio Decidendi: Where renewal of registration of a continuing partnership is sought, strict compliance with the prescribed rules requires actual division or credit of the previous year's profits or loss before the application is made, and an application lacking that compliance is invalid notwithstanding the statutory privilege attached to registration.

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