Judgment

Sanjay Dhar, J.—The instant appeal is directed against the judgment and decree dated 25.07.2005 passed by the learned Principal District Judge, Anantnag, whereby the suit of the respondents (hereinafter referred to as the ‘plaintiffs’) has been decreed against the appellants (hereinafter referred to as the ‘defendants) and the plaintiffs have been held entitled to recover an amount of Rs. 7.00 lacs along with interest @ 5% per annum and costs of the suit from the defendants.

2. Briefly stated the facts leading to filing of the instant appeal are that the plaintiffs filed a suit for recovery of an amount of Rs. 7.00 lacs against the defendants with a relief of decree for settlement of accounts and perpetual injunction. The case of the plaintiffs before the Trial Court was that they along with one-Qazi Abdul Salam were running partnership business of extracting, lifting and forwarding of Mini Forest Produce (MFP). The partnership was in equal shares and the business was being run by the partners under the name and style of M/s Friends Dhoop and Aggarbatti Works Qazigund.

3. It was averred that after running the business for some time, certain disputes arose between the partners, which resulted in filing of a suit by Dr. Qazi Abdul Salam. During the pendency of the aforesaid suit, the said Dr. Qazi Abdul Salam is stated to have died on 11.04.2003. The deceased partner is survived by the defendants and other legal heirs. It appears that after the death of the above named partner, defendants in terms of the covenants of the Partnership Deed opted to join the partnership business. The dispute between the partners, i.e., the defendants and plaintiffs is stated to have been resolved by execution of a Relinquishment Deed dated 30.06.2003, registered on 01.07.2003, whereby the plaintiffs relinquished their rights in favour of the defendants.

4. It is alleged in the plaint that at the time of execution of the Relinquishment Deed, the accounts between the parties could not be settled, as such, another agreement was executed by the partners, which was registered with Sub-Registrar, Qazigund on 01.07.2003, whereunder it was agreed by the parties that the accounts would be settled by 15.08.2003 and it was further agreed that the defendants would pay a sum of Rs. 7.00 lacs to the plaintiffs, which amount was due to be recovered by the plaintiffs from M/S Om Parkash of Amritsar.

5. It is further averred that despite execution of the Deed of Relinquishment and the aforestated agreement, the defendants did not settle the accounts and they did not pay an amount of Rs. 7.00 lacs to the plaintiffs before the stipulated date, i.e., 15.08.20003. It is, in these circumstances, that the plaintiffs approached the learned Trial Court by way of a suit for recovery of an amount of Rs. 7.00 lacs from the defendants and for relief of a decree of settlement of accounts with a perpetual injunction, restraining the appellants/defendants from lifting or forwarding any Mini Forest Produce (MFP) till accounts between the parties are settled.

6. A perusal of the Trial Court record reveals that the defendants had put in their appearance before the Trial Court and the parties sought time to enter into negotiations with each other. After appearing for some dates, the defendants stopped appearing in the case and the learned Trial Court vide its order dated 24.05.2004 proceeded ex parte against the defendants and directed the plaintiffs to lead ex parte evidence. It is pertinent to mention here that from the Trial Court record, it comes to the fore that the defendants had filed objections to the application for grant of interim injunction, but no written statement was filed by them in the main suit. In their objections, the defendants primarily took a stand that with the execution of Relinquishment Deed by the plaintiffs in favour of the defendants, the accounts between the partners stood settled amicably and peacefully and as such, no cause of action was left