TMI Blog1935 (9) TMI 10X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... xcept Section 69 which shall come into force on 1st day of October 1938. 3. The Act therefore provided that this particular Section 69, which requires that a suit shall only be instituted on behalf of a registered firm, was not to apply for a period of one year after the rest of the Act came into force. The conclusion to be drawn from this provision is that the Legislature intended that an opportunity should be given to unregistered firms to be registered before the somewhat drastic provisions of Section 69 were enforced against those firms. For the applicant Mr. Seth argued that this provision was only intended to operate in regard to causes of action which had arisen after the main portion of the Act came into force. It appears that this would be a very small matter as it is not common for a suit to be brought in regard to a cause of action arising within one year from She suit; at least so far as suits on contracts are concerned. It is more probable that the provision in Section 1, Sub-section (3) was intended to have a wider effect and to apply to all suits' which an unregistered firm desired to bring within' one year after the main provisions of the Act came into f ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he procedure laid down toy the Act. In other words the section deals with substantive rights and does not deal with legal procedure. In my opinion if Sub-section (b) of Section 74 was intended to deal with procedure, it would begin (b) the procedure in any legal proceeding or remedy. It appears to me that the word procedure does not go well with the word remedy, and this is another reason why I think that the word procedure cannot be understood in this Sub-section (b). The view which I take is, that on this construction put forward by learned Counsel the section merely lays down that for. any right, title, interest, obligation or liability mentioned in (a), or for anything done or suffered before the Act, there will always be a legal proceeding or remedy, but such a legal proceeding or remedy must be taken in accordance with the Act. The second point is, that this view that Section 74 refers to substantive rights only and not to rules of procedure, is supported by the analogy of the General Clauses Act, 10 of 1897, Section 6. In Section 6 it is stated that where an Act has been repealed, the repeal shall not affect any investigation, legal proceeding or remedy in respect ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed firm was barred by Section 69, Partnership Act. ' I consider that these two rulings should be followed, and that the provisions of Section 74, Partnership Act, are in tended to apply to substantive rights and not to matters of procedure and that the; procedure laid down by Section 69 must be followed in a suit which is filed after 1st October 1933. ' One further point arises in regard to this case, and that is that learned Counsel points out that on 27th June 1934, the firm did become a registered firm and the certificate was filed in Court on 27th July 1934, that is two days before the case was heard. He accordingly makes on oral request that he should be allowed to amend his plaint No such application was in his grounds of revision, which merely stated in ground No. 3: Because the registration certificate having been filed during the pendency of the suit, any defect even if it existed was cured. 7. The question arose before the learned single Judge of this Court in a form more favourable to the plaintiff, as in the case before him the plaint had been amended by the orders of the Court, and; the argument was that the suit should be deemed to have been instituted ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... er in the firm unless the firm is registered and the person suing is or has been shown in the Register of Firms as a partner in the firm. 10. But there is Section 74, which provides that: Nothing in this Act or any repeal effected thereby shall affect or be deemed to affect-(a) any right, title, interest, obligation or liability, already acquired, accrued or incurred before the commencement of this Act, (b) any legal proceeding or remedy in respect of any such right, title, interest, obligation or liability, or anything done or suffered before the commencement of this Act, or (c) anything done or suffered before the commencement of this Act. etc. 11. So the main question for consideration is whether the provisions of S' 69 are not made subject to the provisions of Section 74, which is a saving clause for the protection of persons who had acquired certain rights prior to the commencement of the Act. There can be no doubt that the words any such right in Sub-section (b) refer to any right, title, interest, obligation or liability, already acquired, accrued or incurred before the commencement of the Act mentioned in Sub-section (a). Sub-section (b) must there ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , as a mere adverbial clause they can very well modify the -words done or suffered without any difficulty from the point of view of grammar or meaning. The section would then mean that nothing in the Act, including the provisions of Section 69, can affect any right, title, interest or liability, already acquired, accrued or incurred before the commencement of the Act, or can affect any legal proceeding or remedy in respect of any right, title, etc., acquired before the commencement of the Act. It will then follow that a suit which is brought to enforce a right which had already-accrued would -not be governed by the provisions of Section 69 of the Act. The additional difficulty to be faced is that the provisions -of the section are somewhat analogous to the provisions of Section 6, General Clauses Act. In Section 6(c) the words affect any aright, privilege, obligation or liability acquired, accrued or incurred under any enactment so repealed are mentioned, and then in Sub-section (e) it is provided that the repeal shall not affect any investigation, legal proceeding or remedy in respect of any such right, privilege, obligation, liability, penalty, forfeiture or puni ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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