Recognised liquor licence partner may continue privileges after death of original licensee despite no heir or assignee status.

A partner already recognised under Rule 40(1) of the Bombay Foreign Liquor Rules, 1953 cannot be denied continuation of licensed privileges on the original licensee's death merely because he is not an heir, legal representative, or assignee. Once the Collector has accepted the partnership and amended the licence to include the partner's name, that person holds a recognised partnership status rather than that of a fresh applicant. The licensing condition invoked by the authority did not apply to a surviving partner's claim, and the refusal based only on the absence of a family or representative link to the deceased licensee was unsustainable. The deceased partner's name was therefore liable to be deleted while the surviving partner continued the licence.

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Issues: Whether a person admitted as a partner in a liquor vendor's licence under Rule 40(1) of the Bombay Foreign Liquor Rules, 1953 can be denied continuation of the licensed privileges on the death of the original licensee, when he claims only as a surviving partner and not as heir, legal representative, or assignee.

Analysis: Rule 40(1) permits the Collector to recognize a partnership and to alter the licence by adding the partner's name when the partnership is entered into after grant of the licence. Once the Collector had accepted the petitioner as a partner in the licence, the petitioner stood in that recognized capacity and not as a stranger seeking a fresh grant. The condition relied upon by the licensing authority, which speaks of heirs, legal representatives, and assignees, did not govern a claim by a surviving partner. The rejection was based only on the absence of relationship with the deceased licensee and did not address the legal effect of the already recognized partnership.

Conclusion: The denial of continuation of the licensed privileges was unsustainable, and the petitioner was entitled to enjoy the licence by deletion of the deceased partner's name.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a licensing authority has already recognized a partner under the governing licence rules, that partner's status as surviving partner cannot be defeated merely because he is neither an heir nor a legal representative of the deceased licensee.

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