Alfred Henry Lionel Leach, C.J.

1. Section 69(2) of the Partnership Act states that no suit to enforce a right arising from a contract shall be instituted in a Court by or on behalf of a firm against a third party unless the firm is registered and the persons suing are or have been shown in the Register of Firms as partners in the firm. The question which arises in this petition is whether the registration of a firm after it has filed a suit can cure the defect.

2. In this case an unregistered partnership instituted a Small Cause suit in the Court of the District Munsif of Palni. It had applied for registration before filing the plaint, but the application had not been granted. In fact it was not granted until over a month had elapsed after the filing of the plaint. In these circumstances the District Munsif dismissed the suit with costs. The reported cases disclose a difference of opinion, but the majority of the judgments are to the effect that subsequent registration of the firm does not entitle the Court to proceed with the suit and that the only course open to it is to dismiss it.

3. The question has been considered on different occasions by four Judges of this Court, nam