Mehar Singh, J.

1. On July 12, 1928, firm Mela Ram-Shiv Dial, firm Chamba Mal-Harkishan Das, and Balmokand entered into a partnership under a partnership deed of the date, registered on July 14, 1928, to carry on the business of. generation and distribution of electricity in the town of Hoshiarpur and its suburbs. A copy of this partnership deed has not been produced. On the same date they made an application under Section 3 of the Indian Electricity Act, 1910 (Act 9 of 1910), to the Punjab State Government for the grant of a licence for the purposes for which they entered into partnership and the then Punjab Government granted a licence to them described as " The Hoshiarpur Electric Licence, 1930 ". A copy of that licence is anriexure "A". According to Clause 9 of the licence, the option to purchase the undertaking under Section 7(1) of the Act was to be on the expiry of fifteen years from its date, and, thereafter, on the expiry of every subsequent period of twenty (sic) years. Of the three partners, Balmokand dropped out of the partnership by a document executed between the partners on April 29, 1930. The remaining two partners took with them two other partners, R.B. Moh