Civil Appeal No 1896 of 1968
Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated the 21st September 1962 of the Mysore High Court in Regular Appeal B No 287 of 1956
H B Data and P C Bhartari for the appellant
section T Desai and Naunit Lal for respondents 3  4
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by SARKARIA J
This is a plaintiff s appeal by special leave directed against a judgment of High Court of Mysore
The following pedigree table will be helpful in understanding the facts leading up to this appeal Mahalingappa died in 1922 Mallappa Appa Saheb Neelkanth Def
No I Def
No 2 died on 8 7 46 Chandrakant Smt
Balabi Def
No 3 wife of Neelkanth Def
No4
The respondents are Hindus governed by Mitakshra School of Hindu Law
Mahalingappa the prepositus of the joint family died in 1922 survived by three sons namely Malappa Defendant 1 Appa saheb Defendant 2 and Neelkanth The sons are hereafter referred to as M A  and N  Mahalingappa and his sons constituted a joint Hindu family
The family was trading in tobacco
Mahalingappa J as Karta was managing the joint family business
After his death his eldest son
Neelkanth father of Chandrakant Defendant 3 began to look after the management of the family business N  also started C N Tennis Bidi Factory in the name of his son Chandrakanth in 1942 or thereabout
N  died on July 8 1946
Thereafter A  Defendant 2 continued and managed the joint family business and the family concerns with the consent of the other members
After 1951 the family business was managed by M  Defendant 1
The appellant had business dealings in tobacco and money dealings with the Defendants  joint family
There used to be periodical verification of accounts and acknowledgements were made from time to 289 time by the Manager of the family
The plaintiff s accounts were burnt in fire on October 22 1949 and he had to reconstruct the accounts from available information and  documents
On April 15 1953 accounts were taken and the amount due from the defendants family to the plaintiff was worked out and verified The accounts thus stated were acknowledged and signed by Defendant 1 and by Defendant 4 as guardian of her minor son Defendant 3
A balance of Rs 6946515 was found due to the plaintiff from the defendants
With the preceding allegations the plaintiff on January 28 1954 instituted the suit for the recovery of Rs 75000  comprising of Rs 6946515  as principal plus interest at 12 per cent per annum Subsequently by an amendment of the plaint he added an alternative ground that if the Defendants proved that there had been a partition in the family they were still liable for the dues pertaining to the ancestral business carried on by all the defendants either as members of the joint Hindu family or as partners of a firm
Defendants 1 and 2 in their joint written statement admitted that there was an ancestral tobacco business of the family managed by N  till his death in 1946 that after N s death the family business was managed by them M  A and that all the defendants were jointly liable for the plaintiff s claim
The defendants denied that there was ever a partition of the joint family
They however conceded that a deed of partnership an agreement and a partition award had been brought into existence from time to time with the sole object of lessening the burden of income tax and they were not intended to be acted upon
It was added that after the interim attachment of the property Defendant 3 taking advantage of these bogus documents obtained an ex parte decree to show that there had been division of the joint family and that this decree was not opposed by the answering defendants because they were assured that it would not be executed
They admitted that the appellant s claim was partially true but denied correctness of the total balance claimed as due
They further averred that the suit was time barred as the acknowledgement relied on by the plaintiff was not legal and could not extend limitation that interest was wrongly calculated that if they  Defendant 1 and 2 were held liable they should be allowed to pay in easy instalments
Defendant 3 filed a separate written statement
He resisted the plaintiff s claim traversed the allegations in the plaint and denied that there was any acknowledgment made on his behalf on April 15 1953 by his mother Defendant 4
In the alternative he pleaded that she had no authority to acknowledge the debt so as to bind him as he was then a minor
Defendant 3 further stated that there was a disruption of the joint family status on November 4 1945 when M A and N unequivocally expressed their intention to separate and divided the movables and thereafter a decree for partition of the immovable property of the family was passed in 1949 on the basis of an arbitration award
Defendant 3 asserted that this decree had been acted upon by the parties
He denied that Defendants 1 and 2 had ever acted manager of the joint family with the consent of the other members 290 and added that this question could not arise because of the earlier division of the family
Defendant 4 in her written statement denied the plaintiffs  claim and supported the contentions raised in his written statement by Defendant 3
She stated that Defendants 1 and 2 had taken her thumb impressions on certain papers on the representation that they had been properly managing the Tennis Bidi Factory which had fallen to the share of her husband
She was never informed of the contents of the documents by the Defendants who took undue advantage of her illiteracy
The trial court held that the joint family had disrupted in 1945 and the plaintiff was aware of this fact that the acknowledgements of the debt had been made by Defendants 1 and 2 and not by Defendant 3 and on that account the suit was within time only as against Defendants 1 and 2 that Defendant 3 had on attaining majority repudiated his liability as partner that the thumb impressions of Defendant 4 on the acknowledgement had been taken by practising fraud that in any case defendant 4 had no authority to acknowledge the debt on behalf of her minor son
The Court however upheld the appellant s contention that the old accounts had been destroyed in fire and that the plaintiff was entitled to interest at 12 per cent per annum
on these findings the trial court decreed the plaintiff s claim in toto against Defendants 1 and 2 but dismissed it against Defendants 3 and 4
Against that judgment and decree of the trial court the plaintiff preferred an appeal to the High Court
The High Court has affirmed the findings of the trial court and dismissed the appeal
Hence this second appeal by the plaintiff
Defendants 1 and 2 did not appeal against the decree of the trial court which had consequently become final against them
It is common ground between the parties that during the life time of Mahalingappa the family consisting of Mahalingappa and his sons was a joint Hindu family trading in tobacco
It is further not disputed that after the death of Mahalingappa the surviving co parceners continued to be joint and Neelkanth the eldest son of Mahalingappa managed the family business as Karta till November 4 1945
The first matter in controversy is whether on November 4 1945 on account of an unequivocal declaration of an intention to separate made by the three sons of Mahalingappa there was a disruption of the joint family status  The courts below have concurrently answered this question in the affirmative
Mr Datar appearing for the appellant contends that this finding of the courts below that there was a division in the family on November 4 1945 was not based on any evidence whatever and is consequently unsustainable in law
291 We are unable to accept this contention
The finding is based on good evidence which has been found credit worthy after due consideration by the two courts
Firstly there is a recital of the fact of division on November 4 1945 in the partnership deed exhibit 197 dated October 25 1946
This deed has been written on a general stamp paper of the value of Rs 30
The date of the purchase of the stamp paper accords with the date of the execution of the deed
This document therefore could not have been brought into existence subsequently
Secondly there was an endorsement on the Income tax Return exhibit 309 relating to the previous year ending on November 4 1945 that at the end of the year there has been a change in the status of the family
Thirdly there is the Arbitration Award exhibit 294 dated November 3 1948 followed by the decree exhibit 295
This award is a registered document
The material recitals in this document are as under The plaintiff Chandrakant Nilkanth and the defendants Nos 1 2 and 3 Mallappa Appasaheb and Basawabai widow of Mahalingappa were members of joint family
During the lifetime of the plaintiff s father he and the defendants Nos 1 2 and 3 were living joint and all the three persons carried on the business of the joint family
Thereafter as the minds of the plaintiff s father and of the defendants Nos 1 and 2 were prejudiced on account of some domestic reasons they began to live separately in the year 1945
Thereafter they took accounts of the transactions with desire to get their immovable and movable properties and other business partitioned and got the capital amount in that business partitioned on 4th November 1945
So also they effected partitions in the other movables and the ornaments etc
 of the family Now the defendants Nos 1 and 2 are objecting about the maintenance to be given to the defendant No 3 widow of Mahalingappa as per agreement deed The contentions of the defendants Nos 1 and 2 are as follows We and our deceased eldest brother Sri Nilkanthappa were living joint
It is true that on 4th November 1945 we all three together have taken the accounts of the business and have made divisions in the capital of the business
It is true that accordingly we have proportionately divided the remaining movable articles and the ornaments etc
and have taken the same  The award bears the signatures of the three arbitrators and on its basis the court passed a decree on August 9 1949
That suit was instituted by Chandrakant and Basawwa widow of Mahalingappa Suryakant an illegitimate son of Nilkanth Mallappa Mahalingappa Sadalge and Appasaheb were impleaded as defendants
Under the award provision was made for the maintenance of Smt
Basawwa and the residence of Suryakant the illegitimate son of Nilkanth
292 The conclusion based on the above documentary evidence was reinforced by the courts below with admissions made by Defendants 1 and 2 in cross examination and also with an inference drawn against the plaintiff and Defendant 1 on account of the non production of the account books
In our opinion the court below were justified in drawing the inference because Defendant 1 as is apparent from his written statement is colluding with the plaintiff and all circumstances suggest that these account books must be with defendant 1
The case of Defendant 3 is that on November 4 1945 the accounts of the joint family were worked out and closed
It was found that there was a capital balance of Rs 6402311 which was equally divided among the three brothers and the fact of this division was noted in the account books which were in the possession of Defendant 1
In the witness box Defendants 1 and 2 admitted that on November 11 1945 each of the brothers got Rs 2134039 and credit entries to that effect were made in the khata of each brother in the account books of the shop
Defendant 3 by an application exhibit 169 called upon Defendant 1 to produce in court the account books in his possession
Notice of this application was received by Defendant s Counsel on July 18 1955
Despite this notice defendant 1 did not produce the account books when he appeared in the witness box on July 21 1955
He made a lame excuse that the account books had been given to Javali pleader after the service of summons in this suit on him defendant 1 because that pleader had asked him to bring the books containing the plaintiff s accounts
But the defendant gave him the books of the Bidi Factory and not of M B Sadalge shop
Defendant 1 in cross examination clearly admitted that he had given to Javali pleader only those account books which contained the plaintiff s Khata and not of previous years
By any reckoning this means that he did not hand over the account books relating prior to the years 1949 to Javali Pleader
Admittedly after the death of Nilkanth
he was managing the business upto 1950 and as such was supposed to be in possession of the account books
The courts below were there fore right in rejecting the explanation given by him for non production of the account books
The explanation regarding the non production of the books given by defendant 2 who had managed the business after 1951 was equally unsatisfactory and was rightly discarded
In the light of what has been said above it cannot be held that there was no legal evidence before the courts below to base the finding that the joint family had disrupted on November 4 1945
It is next contended by Mr Datar that even if there was some declaration of separation in 1945 and subsequently a decree for partition based on an award was passed in 1949 then also such declaration award and decree were never acted upon
It is submitted that in holding to the contrary the High Court has committed several errors of record and misconstrued important documentary evidence
293 According to Mr Datar the under mentioned documentary evidence unmistakably shows that the declaration of 1945 the award of 1948 and the partition decree of 1949 were not acted upon 1
Affidavits Exhts
221 247 and 248 sworn on July 20 1946 before a Magistrate by Defendants 2 4 and 1 stating that they are members of a joint Hindu family and Defendant 2 is the manager of the family
In the affidavit exhibit 247 Smt
Balabai gave her consent to the management of the affairs of the joint family by defendant 2
Application dated August 13 1946 exhibit 182 by Defendant 1 to Sales tax officer for transfer and registration of the licence and application exhibit 208 dated September 30 1946 made by defendants 1 and 2 on their behalf and on behalf of Chandrakant Defendant 3 informing the City Surveyor about the death of Neelkanth and requesting him to enter the Khata in the names of all the three defendants 1 to 3
3 Income tax returns Exhs
309 to 314 filed after the death of Neelkanth
Resolution exhibit 335 passed by the Board of Directors in the meeting held on July 30 1946 permitting defendant 2 to redeem in the capacity of Karta of the joint family goods pledged with the Nipani Branch of the Bank by Neelkanth deceased
exhibit 147 statement dated September 26 1953 by defendant 3 requesting the City Surveyor Nipani that his joint share in Nipani Revision Survey Nos 1254 and 1264 may be cancelled and the name of defendant 1 may be entered again for both the numbers
Emphasis is on a sentence in this statement to the effect Two months have passed since the said partition
In accordance with this statement
the mutation exhibit 263 was attested
Both the courts below have fully considered this evidence along with other evidence and come to the conclusion that these documents do not discount or alter the fact that the joint family had disrupted on November 4 1945
The High Court has given reasons why the evidence furnished by the deed of partnership exhibit 197 and the Arbitration Award exhibit 294 can be safely accepted  In regard to Exs
221 247 and 248 the High Court has said that there is no evidence as to for what purpose these affidavits were sworn to and has rightly emphasised that in the absence of such evidence it is difficult to draw any inference about the implications of their contents
Regarding the affidavit exhibit 247 purporting to have been sworn by Smt
Balabai the High Court has said that she must have been mentally depressed being in mourning on account of the death of her husband which occurred only 12 days earlier that she was an illiterate woman who thumb marked whatever documents were presented to her without understanding its contents
In this connection the High Court referred to the statement of defendant 1 wherein he has admitted that during defendant 3 s minority defendant 1 and defendant 2 were the only persons who looked after the business and defendant 4 never objected to whatever they did
and that they used 294 to take defendant 4 s thumb impression whenever they thought it necessary in connection with the dealings of M B Sadalge shop
As regards the applications Exs 182 and 208 the High Court said there was nothing inconsistent in the recitals of these documents to show that there was no partition of the joint family
The recital in exhibit 208 was found to be too technical to spell out the full legal implications of the words in the joint family
Referring to the Income tax returns Exs
310 311 and 314 submitted on March 15 1948 November 12 1949 and February 13 1954 respectively the High Court noted that these refer to the accounts of the two concerns and contain somewhat different description in the management
In exhibit 310 relating to the year ending October 24 1946 it is stated that N  and defendants 1 and 2 were Kartas of the family
In exhibit 311 defendant 2 is mentioned as the manager of the old Hindu Undivided Family
Similarly exhibit 314 purports to have been filed by the HUF relating to the year 1949 50 but this was filed on Feb 13 1954 after the institution of this suit
The income tax returns exhibit 312 and 313 relate to the previous years ending on 12 11 1947 and 22 12 48
exhibit 312 was submitted on December 26 1949 and exhibit 313 on December 22 1953 both by defendant 2
The status of the assessee in these two returns is mentioned as Firm
exhibit 315 is the income tax return relating to the income tax year 1948 49 the previous year of which ended on November 12 1947
It was filed by defendant 4 as guardian of her minor son defendant 3 on December 22 1949
The status of the assessee therein is shown as Individual 
It relates to the business which was being run under the style of Ms M B Sadalge
It is mentioned in this return that each of the three defendants 1 2 and 3 has 13 share in the business exhibit 316 is the order of the Income tax officer passed on June 20 1950 wherein it is stated that 13 share of defendant 1 in the profits of this firm was assessed on that date
exhibit 309 is the income tax return relating to the previous year ended on November 4 1945
It was filed by defendant 2 in 1946 after Neelkanth s death
The High Court has attached great weight to an endorsement on this return which is to the effect that there had been a change in the family status
at the end of the year
This endorsement has been omitted from the printed copy of exhibit 309
Consequently at one stage it was maintained by the counsel for the appellant that in repeatedly referring to this endorsement the High Court had committed an error of record
We therefore sent for the original
We find that this endorsement is very much there in the original
This endorsement was a valuable piece of evidence to show that in fact there had been a disruption of the joint family status at the end of the previous year 1944 45 on November 4 1945
Thus the evidence furnished by the income tax returns was conflicting
But the aforesaid endorsement on exhibit 309 was a clincher
It was a statement made ante litem motam
It confirmed the testing of 295 Defendant 2 that the partition had taken place in 1945 and this tilted the balance against the contention of the plaintiff
In such evidentiary value it out weighs the income tax returns exhibit 310 311 and 314 in which the status of the assessee is shown as HUF The High Court was therefore not wrong in holding that all these documents taken together do not show that the family of the defendants had continued to be joint
 Discussing the resolution exhibit 335of the Board of Directors passed on July 30 1946 the High Court said that this resolution was passed only 22 days after the death of Neelkanth and therefore there was nothing unusual if all the members authorised defendant 2 to redeem the pledged goods as manager of the joint family
In our opinion it was not  unreasonable to hold that the recital in this resolution with regard to defendant 2 being the authorised manager of the joint family was made as a matter of expediency and did not discount the case of defendant 4 that the joint family had disrupted on November 4 1945
The High Court found that the racital in exhibit 143 that the partition had taken place two months prior to this application was obviously a mistake as it was nobody s case that the partition had taken place in 1953
This inference also was not implausible
This document contains other palpable errors of a similar nature
For instance therein the age of defendant 3 is mentioned as twenty years while he was hardly eighteen
The High Court found that the documentary evidence furnished by the partnership deed exhibit 197 dated October 25 1946 the award exhibit 294 dated October 30 1948 and the decree exhibit 295 dated September 15 1949 passed on its basis was entirely reliable
It further found that these documents had been acted upon
In this connection the High Court rightly relied upon the admissions of defendant 1 in cross examination
In the witness box defendant 1 had conceded that all the immovable property that had been allotted to defendant 2 under the award had been sold away by him and that pursuant to the award Rs 7000 had been paid to Heerabai and her son Suryakant
Defendant 1 further significantly admitted that on October 25 1946 Rs 16000 and odd were to the credit of defendant 3 in the account books of M section Sadalge Shop
By virtue of the receipt exhibit 167 dated August 9 1949 defendants 1 and 2 acknowledged the deposit of Rs 16005 15 0 in favour of the minor Defendant 3 payable with interest at Rs 6 per cent per annum
Defendant 1 admitted the correctness of the contents of this receipt
It is undisputed that subsequently defendant 3 has not only obtained a decree on the basis of this receipt against defendant 1 but has taken out its execution
The High Court has also dismissed the effect of the agreement exhibit 99 which was executed between defendants 1 2 and defendant 4 as the guardian of the minor defendant 3 on April 12 1950
The main object of this agreement was to safeguard the interests of the minor in the management of the two partnership businesses namely 296 M B Sadalge Shop and Tennis Bidi Factory in the name of Chandrakant Neelkant Sadalge
By this agreement defendants 1 and 2 were called upon to credit to the business whatever amounts they had spent from out of the partnership assets
The power of each of the defendants with regard to withdrawal of funds from partnership chest for personal expenses was also restricted
This arrangement continued to be in force till the partnership was dissolved by another registered deed on April 20 1951
Reference has already been made to exhibit 316 an order dated June 20 1950 of the Income tax officer showing that defendants 1 2 and 3 were being assessed on the basis that each of them had 13rd share in the business
In a joint Hindu family business no member of the family can say that he is the owner of one half one third or one fourth
The essence of joint Hindu family property is unity of owner ship and community of interest and the shares of the members are not defined
Similarly the pattern of the accounts of a joint Hindu family business maintained by the Karta is different from those of a partnership
In the case of the former the shares of the individual members in the profits and losses are not worked out while they have to be worked out in the case of partnership accounts
In view of all that has been said above we are of opinion that the concurrent finding of the courts below to the effect that the joint Hindu family of the defendants had disrupted on November 4 1945 does not suffer from any legal infirmity or gross error which would justify our interference in this appeal by special leave
We therefore take it that no joint Hindu family of the defendants nor any joint business of such a family was in existence either on October 15 1949 when the last dealing vide exhibit 394 of the plaintiff with defendants 1 and 2 took place or when on April 15 1953 the accounts were stated and admitted
Indeed on the date April 15 1953 on which the plaintiff s cause of action arose even the partnership was not in existence the same having stood dissolved since April 20 1951
Mr Datar next contends that even if the joint status of the family stood disrupted from November 1945 then also on the principle of section 45 Partnership Act the acknowledgements made by defendants 1 and 2 representing themselves jointly or severally as Karta of the joint Hindu trading family would in the absence of public notice to the traders in general or particular notice to the plaintiff be binding of all the erstwhile members of the joint family
Reliance for this contention has been placed on a Single Bench judgment of the Bombay High Court in Kashiram Bhagshet Shete vs Bhaga Bhanshet Redij1
As against this Mr Desai submits that Kashiram s case supra does not lay down the law correctly
Counsel maintains that the contrary view taken by the other High Courts in these cases is sound  Pramod Kumar Pati vs Damodar Sahu2 Rengaswami Ayyanagar vs 1 AIR 1945 Bom
511 2 IL R 1953 Cuttack 221
297 Sivyurakasam Pillai1 Muthyala Ramachandrappa vs Muthyala Narayanappa 2 
Kashiram s case supra decided by an eminent single Judge certainly supports the proposition propounded by Mr Datar
Applying the principle of section 45 of the Partnership Act 1932 the learned Judge held that unless intimation of the severance of joint status between the members of the joint family is given to the outside creditors who had dealings with the joint family through its karta either by public notice or individual notice in that behalf the karta would be deemed to continue to represent the family and to have power to incur debts for family necessity and to make acknowledgements or part payments in s respect of the same so as to extend the period of limitation
With great respect to the learned Judge we do not think that this is a correct enunciation of the law on the point
Firstly the legislature has in its wisdom excluded joint Hindu trading families from the operation of the Partnership Act
Section 4 of that Act defines partnership  as the relation between persons who have agreed to share the profits of a business carried on by all or any of them acting for all
Section 5 further makes it clear that this Act governs only that relation of partnership which arises from contract and not from J status such as the one obtaining among the members of a joint Hindu family trading partnership
Secondly the question whether an acknowledgement made by the karta of an erstwhile joint Hindu family after its severance would extend limitation against all the former members of that family turns primarily on an interpretation of clause b of sub section 3 of s 21 read with section 19 of the Limitation Act 1908
Clause b of section 21 3 provides Where a liability has been incurred by or on behalf of a Hindu undivided family as such an acknowledgement or payment made by or by the duly authorised agent of the manager of the family for the time being shall be deemed to have been made on behalf of the whole family
The key words in this clause are the manager of the family for the time being 
These words unerringly indicate that at the time when the acknowledgement is made and signed the person making and signing it must be the manager of a subsisting joint Hindu family
If at the relevant time the joint Hindu family as such was no longer in existence because of division or disruption of its joint status any acknowledgement made by the erstwhile karta of such family cannot keep the debt alive and extend limitation as against all the members of the family his representative capacity as karta being co terminus with the joint status of the family
Explanation II to section 19 lays down that for the purpose of this section signed means signed either personally or by an agent duly authorised in this behalf
Section 211 provides that the expression agent duly authorised in this behalf in sections 19 and 20 shall in the case of a person under disability include his lawful guardian or manager or an agent duly authorised in this behalf
It is well settled that 1 ILR 1942Mad 251 FB 2 AIR 1940 Mad
298 coparceners do not derive their title through the karta of the coparcenary
Defendants 1 and 2 do not fulfil the requirements of this sub section
It is therefore the duty of the creditor to ascertain after due enquiry whether the person making the acknowledgement still holds his representative capacity as karta of the family
The law does not cast any duty upon the members of the family who do not figure in the endorsement or writing admitting the debt to inform the creditor by a general notice about the disruption of the family
If the creditor fails to make an enquiry and satisfy himself  about the capacity of the executant to represent the family at the time of making the acknowledgement he does so at his own peril
Disruption of the joint family status as already noticed puts an end to the representative capacity of the karta and any acknowledgement of a debt made by him after such disruption cannot save the creditors  claim from becoming time barred against the other members
The above enunciation of the law is in accord with the view taken by a Full Bench of the Madras High Court in Rangaswamy Ayyangar vs Sivprakasam Pillai supra and by a Division Bench consisting of Varadachariar and Abdur Rahman JJ
in Muthyala Ramachandrappa vs Muthyala Narayanappa supra and by a Division Bench of the Orissa High Court in Pramod Kumar Pati vs Damodar Sahu supra
We approve of the law enunciated on the point by the High Courts in these cases
No other point has been argued before us in this appeal which fails and is dismissed with costs
PBR Appeal dismissed


Summary:
The plaintiff appellant had business dealings with the joint family of the defendants
He had instituted a suit claiming a certain sum of money from the defendants one of the grounds being that even if the defendants proved that there had been a partition in the family the family was still liable for the dues pertaining to the ancestral business carried on by all the defendants either as members of the joint Hindu family or as partners of a firm
Defendant 3 respondent stated that there was disruption of the joint family status on November 4 1945
when defendants 1 and 2 and his deceased father unequivocally expressed their intention to separate and divided their movables
He denied that defendants 1 and 2 had ever acted as managers of the joint family
The trial Court and the High Court concurrently found that the joint family of the defendants had disrupted on November 4 1945 and that no joint family business was in existence on the date when the last dealing of the plaintiff with the defendants took place
On appeal to this Court it was contended that even if the joint family stood disrupted from November 1945 in the absence of public notice by defendants 1 and 2 regarding the disruption of the joint family the acknowledgements made by them as karta of the joint Hindu family would be binding on the erstwhile joint family under section 45 of the Partnership Act 1932
Dismissing the appeal  HELD 1 It is the duty of the creditor to ascertain whether the person making the acknowledgement still holds his representative capacity as karta of the family
The law does not cast any duty upon the members of the family to inform the creditors by a general notice about the disruption of the family
If the creditor fails to make an enquiry and satisfy himself about the capacity of the executant to represent the family at the time of making the acknowledgement he does so at his own peril
Disruption of the joint family status puts an end to the representative capacity of the karta and any acknowledgement of a debt made by him after such disruption cannot save the creditor s claim from becoming time barred against the other members
298B C Pramod Kumar Pati vs Damodar Sahu ILR 1953 Cuttack 221 Rengaswami Ayyangar vs Sivprakasem Pillai ILR  Mutayala Ramachandrappa vs Mutayala Narayanappa AIR 1940 Mad 339 approved
Kashiram Bhagshet Shete vs Bhaga Bhanshet Redij AIR over ruled
2a The Legislature has excluded the joint Hindu trading families from the operation of the Partnership Act
Section 4 defines partnership as a relation between persons who have agreed to share the profits of a business and according to section 5 the Act governs only that relation of partnership which arises from contract and not from status such as the one obtaining among the members of a joint Hindu family  trading partnership 297C D 288 b The words manager of a family for the time being occurring in section 213b of the Limitation Act
indicate that at the time when the acknowledgement was made and signed the person making and signing it must be the manager of a subsisting joint Hindu family
If at the relevant time the joint Hindu family as such was no longer in existence any acknowledgement made by the erstwhile karta of such family cannot keep the debt alive and extend limitation as against all the members of the family his representative capacity as karta being co terminus with the joint status of the family
297F G c Coparceners do not derive their title through the karta of the coparcenaty
In the instant case defendants 1 and 2 did not fulfil the requirements of sub section
1 of section 21 of the Limitation Act
298A