Mehra v Shah & Ors

Facts

The dispute arose within the extended family of C. B. Shah, who died in 1984 leaving twelve children — six sons and six daughters. From about 1966 Ratilal and Rajnikant came to the United Kingdom and started a drapery business in Southall under the name Fine Fabrics, later joined by their brothers; money was also sent over by C. B. Shah from Nairobi. Various properties were bought in the names of one or more family members, including 85/87 South Road, Southall ("the Big House"), purchased in 1971 for £17,100 in the names of Gulabchand and Shantilal, and 299 and 301 Barking Road, East Ham, purchased on 15 March 1985 in the names of Ratilal and his wife Kasturben. Following the deaths of Gulabchand, Rajnikant and Shantilal, Sangeeta Mehra (Gulabchand's daughter) commenced an action on 1 February 2002 against thirteen defendants, claiming that the properties were assets of a partnership between the six brothers as equal partners. Miss Sonia Proudman QC, sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court in the Chancery Division, upheld the claim, declaring that the partnership consisted of the six brothers alone and that the properties in issue, including the Big House and the Barking Road properties, were partnership assets, ordering dissolution and sale. Eight defendants appealed, with permission granted by Peter Gibson LJ.