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TMI Blog1938 (2) TMI 12X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rtnership Act except Section 69 came into force on 1st October, 1932, Section 69 came into force on 1st October, 1933, and this suit was filed in August, 1934. On these facts, the question arises, whether the plaintiffs who admittedly constitute a firm but had not got themselves registered before the date of the institution of the suit are entitled to maintain the suit. If the matter were wholly res Integra it may be open to argument whether the language of Section 69 of the Partnership Act clearly and necessarily applies to contracts entered into before the date of the coming into force of the Act. In Wright v. Greenroyd (1861) 1 B. and S. 758 : 121 E.R. 896 where the question arose with reference to Section 32 of the English Medical Act o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e coming into force of the Act. In dealing with Section 74,1 may note one ambiguity which however is not very material to this case. In Clause (a), (b) and (c) reference is made to the commencement of this Act and the learned Counsel for the respondents rightly pointed out that it may not be easy to say when dealing with an objection under Section 69, whether the above words should be held to refer to 1st October, 1932, when the Act except Section 69 came into force or to 1st October, 1933, when that section came into force. I do not however express any opinion upon this question because the right of action in the present case accrued even before 1st October, 1932, when the Act came into force. The material clause of Section 74 is Sub-cla ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 4(b) could be read - and I am inclined so to read it - as saving the remedy in respect of any right acquired or accrued prior to 1st October, 1932, the preliminary objection raised in the present suit must be overruled. 6. Learned Counsel for the respondents however adopted another line of argument in dealing with Sub-clause (b) of Section 74. He emphasised the distinction between remedy in the sense of action or right of action and rules of procedure incidental to the working out of that remedy. I agree with him that this distinction is recognised in some of the cases referred to by him. The question still remains, under which of these categories, will the provision in Section 69 fall. He asks me to hold that it is a mere rule of pro ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nt as to the reasons why this view was taken. Learned Counsel also relied upon the cases which have held that requirements like those relating to the delivery of a patta before a landlord could sue for rent or the delivery of a notice under Section 80, Civil Procedure Code, are in the nature of a provision of processual law. These decisions undoubtedly support his contention that processual provisions are not for the purposes of the present discussion necessarily limited to steps to be taken after the institution of a suit or in the Court itself. While I agree with that contention, I must point out that it is not every condition that may be imposed Sipon a plaintiff in respect of his right of suit that can be regarded as a mere provision ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f Registration of Business Names Act of 1916 imposes a penalty upon partners making default in the matter of registration. Such a provision certainly cannot be described as a processual provision. The Indian Legislature did not wish to go so far and for the present thought that it would be sufficient pressure to deprive unregistered partners of the right of suit. Though I do not wish to base any conclusion upon the language of a marginal note, it is noteworthy that in Section 8 of the English Act corresponding to Section 69 of the Indian Partnership Act, the marginal note is Disability of persons in default . In the Indian Companies Act, the Legislature has provided that unregistered associations of the kind contemplated by the Act will be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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