Judgment

KRISHNA IYER, J.:- A fine point of law, which lends itself to subtle spinning of gossamer webs of argument, falls for decision in these appeals by certificate. Were the policy of the law been plain, the language should have been clearer and the labours of courts could have been lesser. The arguments have been exhaustive, the precedents, in profusion, cited to the point of no return and the short issue expanded into learned length; but, at the end of the forensic journey, we are hesitantly inclined to leave the judgment under appeal undisturbed as the law set out therein has better appeal and theoretical soundness than the rival view point well-presented by Sri Ahuja for the appellant (Revenue) The planning and pruning of case law is perhaps necessary if time-consuming court proceedings are to be curbed. All our life is crushed by the weight of words: the weight of the dead, said Luigi Pirandello. Heavy case-law must not clog judicial navigation.

2. Next to a breviate statement of the facts which project the legal issue canvassed before us. Two tea estates were owned by two firms with several partners, two of whom were the respondents, in the two sets of appeals. C. As. 17 to