Joint family partition and genuine partnership not proved; registration as a firm was refused.

For registration as a firm, the assessee had to show a real partnership and that the joint family character had ceased in the relevant legal sense. The surrounding materials, including the partnership deed, relinquishment deed, account entries, and later declarations of separation, were found insufficient to prove that joint family property had been partitioned in definite proportions or that the alleged partnership was actually acted upon. The conduct of the parties and the delay in asserting separation supported the view that the transaction was not genuine. The family was therefore treated as joint in law, the partnership was not accepted as real, and registration was denied.

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Issues: Whether the family was to be treated as joint or separate in law, and whether the alleged partnership was a genuine transaction supporting registration under section 26A.

Analysis: The application for registration as a firm required the assessee to establish that a real partnership had come into existence and that the joint family character had ceased in the relevant sense. The materials relied upon, including the partnership deed, the relinquishment deed, the account entries, and later declarations of separation, were treated as insufficient to compel a finding that the joint family property had in fact been partitioned in definite proportions. The surrounding circumstances, including the conduct of the parties and the delay in asserting separation, supported the view that the alleged partnership was not acted upon as a real transaction. Under section 25A, the relevant inquiry was whether the joint family property had actually been partitioned, and the evidence did not establish that fact.

Conclusion: The family was held to be joint in law, the alleged partnership was not accepted as genuine, and the assessee was not entitled to the claimed registration.

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