JUDGMENT

The 1^st defendant in O.S.No.385/2006 on the files of the Principal Sub Court, Kottayam, in a suit for setting aside a partnership deed and a declaration of existence of a partnership firm and also the consequential relief in the form of injunction restraining defendants from impairing the rights of the plaintiff over the firm, has come up in the present appeal raising certain intricate questions regarding the applicability of Section 69 of the Indian Partnership Act, 1932 .

2. Brief facts necessary for the disposal of the appeal are as follows:

The plaintiff and the defendants are brothers. The father of the plaintiff and the defendants, named Sri.K.Ramachandra Panicker, died on 8.12.1976. He was a dealer and licensee of a petrol bunk at Vaikom, Valiyakavala junction with No.KL 182 under the name and style ‘M/s. K.R. Panicker and Sons’. On 29.5.1978, a partnership deed was executed between the plaintiff and the 1^st defendant, and that being the eldest member of the family, the 1st defendant was managing the affairs of the petrol pump. On 3.3.2004, the plaintiff received a copy of an intimation issued by the BPCL (Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited), dated 27.2.2004, direc