Judgment

CHINNAPPA REDDY, J.:- The legal representatives of the fifth defendant and defendants 6 to 15 in Civil Suit No. 17-A of 1957 in the Court of the Additional District Judge, Narsinghpur are the appellants in this appeal by special leave. Mannulal (5th defendant) and Rajaram 1st defendant, both of whom died during the pendency of the suit, were brothers. They were the sons of Pusau. The plaintiff, a son of Rajaram and a minor on the date of the institution of the suit filed the suit for partition and separate possession of a one-eighth share in the properties mentioned in Schedule A of the plaint and also for an account from defendants 5 to 8 of the assets and income of the business, "Mannulal Lakhanlal". It was alleged in the plaint that with the capital given to them by their father, Pusau, Mannulal and Rajaram started the business of manufacturing Bidis. After the death of Pusau in 1936 the business was continued by the two brothers. In 1948 Mannulal represented to Rajaram that in order to avoid income-tax it was necessary that there should be a nominal partition and that the joint family business should be converted into a partnership business. Accordingly the firm "Mannul