Joint appeal maintainable for firm and partner under one penalty order, with cause title required to be amended.

A joint appeal by a partnership firm and its partner was treated as maintainable where a single adjudication imposed penalties on both for the same alleged conduct. The procedural reasoning was that, when the order appealed against is not multiple and the liability arises from one cause of action, a joint appeal may be entertained by all affected parties. The memorandum of appeal, however, had to accurately reflect the appellants, so the cause title required amendment to add the partner as an appellant. The discussion relied on procedural analogies to joint trial and joinder principles, but the operative point was that the joint appeal could proceed subject to correction of the appeal papers.

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Issues: Whether a joint appeal could be maintained by the partnership firm and its partner against a single order imposing penalty on both, and whether the cause title required amendment to show the partner as an appellant.

Analysis: The order imposed penalties on the firm and on the partner for the same alleged conduct under a single adjudication. The reasoning adopted the principle that where the order appealed against is not a multiple order and the liability arises from the same cause of action, a joint appeal is permissible. Reference was also made to the analogy of joint trial under Section 223 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and to the procedural principle underlying Order 2 Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. On the facts, the appeal could be entertained jointly, but the memorandum of appeal had to correctly reflect both appellants.

Conclusion: The joint appeal by the firm and the partner was held maintainable, and the appellants were directed to amend the cause title by adding the partner as an appellant.

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