Section 69 partnership bar prevents suit institution before firm registration and partner entry in the Register of Firms.

Section 69 of the Indian Partnership Act bars a suit instituted by or on behalf of a person suing as a partner unless the firm is registered and that person is shown in the Register of Firms as a partner. Registration is incomplete until the Registrar makes the required entry under section 59, and section 74 does not override this mandatory procedural bar. Because the suit was filed before those statutory conditions were satisfied, the later amendment of the plaint and subsequent registration could not cure the defect. The rejection of the plaint was therefore upheld.

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Issues: Whether a suit instituted by a firm before the person suing was shown in the Register of Firms as a partner was barred by section 69 of the Indian Partnership Act, 1932, and whether subsequent amendment of the plaint and later registration cured the defect.

Analysis: Registration under section 58 is not complete until the Registrar is satisfied under section 59 and makes the requisite entry in the register. Section 69 imposes a mandatory bar against institution of a suit by or on behalf of a person suing as a partner unless the firm is registered and that person is or has been shown in the Register of Firms as a partner. The provision regulates the procedure for institution of the suit and is not displaced by section 74, which preserves pre-existing rights but does not confer a right to sue in breach of the statutory procedure. The suit was already instituted before the statutory conditions were satisfied, and the later amendment of the plaint could not alter that position.

Conclusion: The suit remained barred at the time of institution and the subsequent amendment did not validate it. The challenge failed, and the order rejecting the plaint was upheld.

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