Mollwo, March & Co. VS. The Court Of Wards

CASE NUMBER

4 P.C. 419.

EQUIVALENT CITATION

(1872) L.R. 4 P.C. 4.

BENCH

Sir Montague E. Smith.

DECIDED ON

27^th July, 1872.

Brief Facts And Procedural History

In this case, W. N. Watson & Co. borrowed some amount of money from Raja Pratap Chandra Singh, but the company failed to return the money back to Raja. So, the company signed a mortgage deed and an agreement with Raja, according to which the company gave the power of control over business to Raja Pratap Chandra Singh and the right to take benefit from the company’s profit until the due amount is paid. Thereafter, the W. N. Watson Co. entered into a contract with Mollwo, March Company (Plaintiff). The W. N. Watson Co. failed to fulfill the contract with the Mollwo, March & Co. As a result, the Mollwo, March & Co. filed a suit against Raja and W. N. Watson Co. as they thought that Raja is a partner in W. N. Watson Co. as he was taking his share in the profits.

Issues Before The Court

The main issue was whether Raja Pratap Chandra Singh can be considered as a partner or not, as he is sharing the profits of the business?

Ratio Of The Case

In this case, the court said that Mollwo, March Company cannot sue Raja as the real intention of the contract between Raja and W. N. Watson Company was not to become partners but to pay the due amount that the company was unable to pay.

Decision Of The Court

In this case, the court held that Raja cannot be considered as a ‘Partner’ (referring to the guidelines given in Cox v. Hickman case), as the contract which was made between Raja and W. N. Watson Company was not a partnership but the company wanted to pay the debt and hence they gave power and rights to Raja on their business. Therefore, the relation between W. N. Watson Company and Raja is of a debtor and creditor and so that is why, the Mollwo, March Company cannot sue Raja.

The case analysis has been done by Priyanka Choudhary, currently pursuing BA LLB from Mody University of Science and Technology, Lakshmangarh, Rajasthan.

The case analysis has been edited by Shubham Yadav, pursuing B.com LL.B. (4th Year) from Banasthali Vidyapith.

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