Cheque dishonour liability requires arraigning the partnership firm; partnership registration does not displace Section 141.

Section 69(2) of the Partnership Act bars only civil suits to enforce contractual rights and does not extend to criminal prosecution under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. In a cheque dishonour case involving a partnership firm, Section 141 applies vicarious liability principles to firms as well as companies, so the firm must be arraigned as an accused when the cheque is issued on its behalf. Registration status of the firm does not change that requirement. The complaint was unsustainable because no statutory notice was issued to the firm and the firm was not made an accused; proceedings against the partners alone could not stand.

---

---

Issues: Whether an unregistered partnership firm can be treated as falling within the scope of vicarious liability under Section 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, and whether a complaint under Section 138 of that Act is maintainable without arraigning the firm as an accused along with the partners.

Analysis: Section 69(2) of the Indian Partnership Act, 1932 bars suits to enforce contractual rights by an unregistered firm, but that bar is confined to civil suits and cannot be extended by interpretation to criminal prosecution under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. A proceeding under Section 138 is a penal prosecution, not a suit for enforcement of a contractual claim. Section 141 embodies vicarious liability for offences by firms and companies, and the principle requiring the firm or company to be made an accused applies equally to partnership firms. Registration status of the firm does not alter the operation of Section 141.

Conclusion: The complaint was not maintainable because the cheque was issued on behalf of the partnership firm, yet no statutory notice was issued to the firm and the firm was not made an accused; proceedings against the partners alone were unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: For an offence under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, where the cheque is issued on behalf of a partnership firm, the firm must be arraigned as an accused for vicarious liability under Section 141, and the bar under Section 69(2) of the Indian Partnership Act, 1932 does not govern such criminal prosecution.

---