No Trade Licence Needed To Register Partnership Firm Of Advocates Under Partnership Act: Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court has held that a partnership firm constituted exclusively for carrying on the legal profession cannot be compelled to produce a trade licence as a precondition for registration under the Indian Partnership Act, 1932, observing that such a requirement finds no place in the statutory scheme governing registration of partnership firms.Justice Bivas Pattanayak, sitting at...
The Calcutta High Court has held that a partnership firm constituted exclusively for carrying on the legal profession cannot be compelled to produce a trade licence as a precondition for registration under the Indian Partnership Act, 1932, observing that such a requirement finds no place in the statutory scheme governing registration of partnership firms.
Justice Bivas Pattanayak, sitting at the Circuit Bench at Jalpaiguri, allowed a writ petition filed by advocate Dr. Arjun Chowdhury challenging the refusal of the Registrar of Firms, Societies and Non-Trading Corporations, West Bengal, to register the partnership firm M/s Pinava Legal for want of a trade licence.
The Court held that Sections 58 and 59 of the Indian Partnership Act, 1932 exhaustively govern the procedure for registration of a partnership firm and do not prescribe production of a trade licence as a condition precedent.
The petitioner contended that despite furnishing all particulars required under Section 58 of the Act, the Registrar repeatedly declined to process the application solely because no trade licence had been submitted. It was argued that once the statutory requirements are fulfilled, Section 59 casts a mandatory obligation upon the Registrar to record an entry of the statement in the Register of Firms and issue a certificate of registration.
Opposing the plea, the State relied upon departmental guidelines and the Bengal Partnership Rules, 1933 to justify the insistence on a trade licence.
Rejecting the contention, the Court found that neither the Partnership Act nor the Bengal Partnership Rules mandate production of a trade licence for registration of a partnership firm engaged in the practice of law. The Court further observed that executive instructions or departmental guidelines cannot impose additional conditions beyond those contemplated by the parent statute.
Holding the Registrar's insistence on a trade licence to be legally unsustainable, the Court directed the authority to process and register the petitioner's application (No. APP-022334) within two weeks, without insisting upon production of a trade licence.
Case Title: Dr. Arjun Chowdhury v. State of West Bengal & Ors.
Case No.: WPA 805 of 2026