Partnership dissolution under the Stamp Act depends on whether the executants are individual proprietors or firms.

A document that records the end of a common venture, settlement of balances, assignment of the outstanding sum, and the parties' relinquishment of further interest may amount to a deed of dissolution only if the executants are individual proprietors. Partnership under Section 239 of the Contract Act exists only between persons capable of forming a statutory partnership, and a firm cannot be a partner in another firm for stamp purposes. Where the executants were firms, the transaction could not be treated as dissolution of partnership under Article 46-B of Schedule 1 of the Stamp Act; where the executants were sole owners, it could be so treated.

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Issues: Whether the document dated 15 July 1924 was a deed of dissolution of partnership chargeable under Article 46-B of Schedule 1 of the Stamp Act, or merely an agreement.

Analysis: The document recited the common venture, the receipts and balances due, the assignment of the outstanding sum to one concern, and the declaration that the others had no further concern or interest in that sum. On its terms, it brought the joint enterprise to an end and finally settled the mutual rights and liabilities arising out of the venture. Partnership under Section 239 of the Contract Act requires persons who agree to combine their property, labour or skill and share profits. A firm is not a partner in another firm, so where the executants are firms, their combined venture does not amount to a partnership within the statutory definition. If there is no partnership, there can be no dissolution of partnership for stamp purposes. If, however, the executants are sole proprietors, the transaction would amount to a dissolution.

Conclusion: The document is a deed of dissolution of partnership only if the executants were individual proprietors; if they were firms, it was not a deed of dissolution of partnership.

Final Conclusion: The answer to the reference turned on the factual character of the executants, and the document was treated as a dissolution deed only in the case of sole owners, not where the parties were firms.

Ratio Decidendi: A partnership within Section 239 of the Contract Act can exist only between persons in the statutory sense, and a firm cannot be a partner in another firm for the purpose of treating a document as a dissolution of partnership under the Stamp Act.

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