Partnership dissolved on death absent contrary contract, and dissolution suit was time-barred under limitation law.

A partnership is dissolved on the death of a partner unless a contract to the contrary is proved, and a firm is not treated as a separate legal entity distinct from its partners for that purpose. On the facts, no contrary agreement was established, so the deaths of the relevant partners dissolved the partnership. A suit for dissolution and accounts must then be brought within three years of dissolution under the Limitation Act. Because the suit was filed after that period, the claim was barred by limitation.

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Issues: (i) whether the constituent firms and the main partnership stood dissolved on the death of the relevant partners in the absence of any contract to the contrary; (ii) whether the suit for dissolution and accounts was barred by limitation.

Issue (i): Whether the constituent firms and the main partnership stood dissolved on the death of the relevant partners in the absence of any contract to the contrary.

Analysis: Under Section 253 of the Indian Contract Act, a partnership is dissolved by the death of any partner unless there is a contract to the contrary. The evidence did not establish any agreement that the death of a partner would not dissolve the partnership. The Court also accepted the view that a firm, as such, is not a legal entity distinct from its partners, so the members of the constituent firms must be treated as the real partners in the main firm. On that footing, the deaths of the relevant partners dissolved the partnership.

Conclusion: The partnership stood dissolved on the deaths of the partners, and no contract to the contrary was proved.

Issue (ii): Whether the suit for dissolution and accounts was barred by limitation.

Analysis: Article 106 of the Indian Limitation Act requires a suit for accounts and a share of the profits of a dissolved partnership to be brought within three years of dissolution. Since the partnership was held to have been dissolved more than three years before the suit, the claim fell outside the limitation period.

Conclusion: The suit was barred by limitation.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed because the partnership had already been dissolved by death without any contrary agreement, and the suit for dissolution and accounts was time-barred.

Ratio Decidendi: A partnership is dissolved by the death of a partner unless a contrary contract is proved, and a suit for dissolution and accounts must be filed within the statutory period counted from dissolution.

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