Impleading all parties of the business concern is necessary in a suit for partition of the concern.

K.Sampath, J.: The plaintiff in O.S. No.719 of 1980 on the file of the II Additional Subordinate Judge’s Court, Erode, is the appellant in the appeal.

2. The suit was filed for partition and separate possession of the plaintiff’s l/6th share in the joint family properties and the joint family business concerns. The pleadings in the present case run to more than 40 pages. It is not necessary to narrate in detail the case of the respective par-ties. Suffice it to briefly state the facts necessary for the disposal of the appeal, from the view point of the respective parties.

3. The case of the plaintiff is as follows:

The plaintiff and defendants 1 to 3 are the sons of one N.T.P Kandasami Mudaliar and the fourth defendant/Venkatammal; N.T.P. Kandasami Mudaliar and N.T.P. Muthusami Mudaliar were members of a Hindu undivided family; in a partition of the joint family properties between the two brothers, the properties set out in schedules ‘A’ and ‘B’ to the plaint were allotted to N.T.P. Kandasami Mudaliar’s branch consisting of himself, defendants 1 to 3, the plaintiff and another son one Ramalingam; N.T.P. Kandasami Mudaliar died in 1954 and Ramalingam died unmarried in 1976; the joint family properties of N.T.P. Kandasami Mudaliar’s branch consisted of a Rice Mill by name Jothi Rice Mills, Kodumudi, 8 acres of Nanjai and punjai lands at Elunoothimangalam, and a house site at Thiruvotriyur at Madras; after the demise of Kandasami Mudaliar, a land belonging to the joint family at Kodumudi was sold, and with the proceeds a medical shop under the name and style of ‘Uma Medicals’ was opened in 1970; there were other businesses, namely, Palaniavel and Company in the premises of Jothi Rice Mill, Kodumudi, M/s. Phonix Industries and M/s. Balu & Co; all of which concerns were started with joint family funds and run on partnership basis; after the death of Kandasami Mudaliar, the first defendant as the eldest was in management; business at Uma Medicals became a prosperous concern and earned huge profits to an extent of Rs.2,56,000; the other concerns were also equally prosperous; the plaintiff requested the first defendant to divide the family properties and business shares in the partnerships and allot him his due share; there was no immediate response; in 1977, in a panchayat the first defendant made, it appear that there were debts to the tune of Rs.2,69,445.22 in the business conducted by the joint family and the debt had to be arranged to be paid before any division of joint family properties could be done; the plaintiff had no means to ascertain the correctness of the existence or extent of the debts nor was he allowed to peruse the accounts; Panchayatdars did not verify the correctness of the existence of the debts and forced the plaintiff to agree to the terms of the Muchalika executed on 5.2.1978; a release deed was executed on 12.4.1978 pursuant to the aforesaid Muchalika; the plaintiff signed the Muchalika and executed the release solely on the faith and the representation made by the first defendant; in 1979 when he procured the income tax returns filed by the first defendant in respect of M/s.Uma Medicals, Erode, K.Palanivel and Co. in Jothi Rice Mills at Kodumudi he found that the assertion by the first defendant before the Income Tax Officer that the business incurred a debt of Rs.2,69,445.22 was a patent and blatant falsehood; the value of stock of medicine in Uma Medicals’ Books of account was Rs.2,32,030.92 as per the Income Tax Return filed as on 27.8.1979; ‘but, in the account copy submitted by the first defendant to the panchayat for the same period ending 27.8.1977, the value of the stock was suppressed to a ridiculous amount of Rs.87,089.01 (at Uma Medicals Rs.77,588.71 and Delux Drug House, Pallipalayam Rs.9.500.30) thereby suppressing the value of the stock by Rs. 1,44,942.88; the big asset amounting to Rs.1,39,233.45 (transferred to Palanivel and Co., Kodumudi) was omitted to be shown in the panchayat, while the fir

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