Mohd. Ajmal vs Firm Indian Chemical Co. And Ors. on 19 September, 1977
10. On behalf of the plaintiff, reliance was placed on a single Judge decision of this Court in' Mukhtar Ahmad v. Mohan Lal Singhania (AIR 1949 All 359). The material facts giving rise to the above-mentioned decision were that the plaintiff-opposite-party brought a suit in the court of Munsif, Gorakhpur, in which he claimed a decree for the dissolution of the partnership business of the United Talkies, Gorakhpur, and for accounts of the said business. There were also general prayers for any other relief to which the plaintiff may be considered to be entitled and for award of costs. The trial court held that the value of the assets of the partnership was about Rs. 50,000/-, and the account-books showed that the liabilities of the firm were to the extent of about Rs. 56,000/-, though most of the debts were challenged by the defendant. The plaintiff had valued the suit for the purposes of court-fee and jurisdiction at Rs. 500/-. It was contended by the defendant that the valuation should be only on the basis of the value of the assets ot the firm. The contention of the defendant was repelled by the learned Munsif, who held that the suit had been approximately valued by the plaintiff and was within his jurisdiction. The sole question, as would appear from a reading of the report, for consideration before the court was as to whether the liabilities of the firm were also to be taken into account for the purposes of valuation of the relief for accounting. The learned Judge held that according to the allegation nothing was due to the plaintiff because the liabilities of the partnership exceeded its assets.' It was in the context that the learned Judge observed that,
"Hence, it cannot be said that the plaintiff has under-valued his suit. In fact the case is one where the relief can be valued only at the discretion of the plaintiff."