Renewal of partnership registration requires an unaltered firm constitution; a deceased partner's substitution defeats the prescribed declaration.

Renewal of registration under section 26A of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 depends on strict compliance with the prescribed form, including a truthful declaration that the firm's constitution and individual shares remain unchanged. Where a partner dies and an heir is substituted, the constitution of the firm changes even if the partnership deed states the firm will not dissolve on death. In that situation, the applicants cannot truthfully certify that the constitution is unaltered, and any such declaration would be false. Non-compliance with the prescribed renewal requirements justifies refusal of renewal.

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Issues: Whether renewal of registration under section 26A of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 could be validly refused when a partner died, the constitution of the firm changed, and the prescribed declaration in the renewal form could no longer be truthfully made.

Analysis: Section 26A required an application for registration or renewal to be supported by an instrument of partnership specifying the individual shares of the partners and to comply with the prescribed form. Rule 6 of the Indian Income-tax Rules, 1922 required the applicants to certify that the constitution of the firm and the individual shares remained unaltered. Although a partnership deed may provide that death of a partner shall not dissolve the firm, the death of a partner and substitution of his heir changes the constitution of the firm. Once the original partner had died and his son came in his place, the applicants could not truthfully certify that the constitution remained the same as at the time of the original registration. Any such certificate would be false, and failure to make it would mean non-compliance with the prescribed form.

Conclusion: Renewal of registration was rightly refused.

Ratio Decidendi: Renewal under section 26A cannot be granted where, after a change in the constitution of the firm, the applicants are unable to satisfy the statutory requirement that the constitution and individual shares remain unaltered in the prescribed renewal form.

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