Ultra vires filing deadline for firm constitution changes was struck down; Registrar must record the notice once given.

Section 63(1) of the Indian Partnership Act allows a partner to give notice of a change in the constitution of a registered firm and requires the Registrar to record it once given; it does not impose any filing limitation period. Rule 4(2) of the Andhra Pradesh Partnership (Registration of Firms) Rules, 1957, by requiring notice within 15 days, exceeded the rule-making power under Section 71, which permits only prescription of form and mode of notices and register entries. The rule was held ultra vires and invalid, the Registrar's refusal to record the notice was quashed, and the change was directed to be recorded.

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Issues: Whether Rule 4(2) of the Andhra Pradesh Partnership (Registration of Firms) Rules, 1957, which required notices of change in the constitution of a registered firm to be filed within 15 days, was ultra vires Section 71 of the Indian Partnership Act, 1932, and whether the Registrar could refuse to record a notice filed beyond that period.

Analysis: Section 63(1) of the Indian Partnership Act, 1932, merely enables a partner to give notice of a change in constitution and obliges the Registrar to record it once given; it does not itself prescribe any limitation period. Section 71(2)(b) and (c) authorise the State Government only to prescribe the form of statements, intimations and notices, and the form and mode of entries in the Register of Firms. Those provisions do not extend to fixing a rigid time-limit for filing notice. A rule that adds such a time restriction travels beyond the scope of the delegated power and defeats the statutory purpose of recording changes in the firm.

Conclusion: Rule 4(2) was held to be ultra vires and invalid, the Registrar's rejection of the notice was quashed, and the Registrar was directed to record the change.

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