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1983 DIGILAW 215 (KAR)

GURUSIDDIAH. K. v. A. VITTAL BHAT

1983-08-30

P.A.KULKARNI

body1983
P. A. KULKARNI, J. ( 1 ) THE revision by the landlord is directed against the order dt. 28. 6. 1978 passed by the District Judge, Bellary in h. R. C. Revn. Petn. 25 of 1977, reversing the order of eviction dt. 28. 7. 1977 passed by the Prl. Munsiff, Hospet in h. R. C. 16 of 1975. ( 2 ) THE petitioner-landlord filed the eviction petition under S. 21 (1) (f) (h) and (i) of the Karnataka Rent Control act, alleging that opponent No. 1 had sublet portions of the petition premises to opponent Nos. 2 to 4 and others and that he requires the petition premises bona fide and reasonably for his own use and that he also requires the petition premises for the immediate purpose of repairs and that the repairs cannot be carried out without the tenant vacating the same. ( 3 ) THE petition premises was leased out to opponent No. 1 on a monthly rent of Rs. 180 under a registered lease, deed dt. 29. 7. 1965 and the period of lease contracted under the said lease deed was 20 years. On account of opponent No. 1 subletting portions of the property, the landlord gave a notice to opponent No. 1 in June 1969. Opponent No. 1 at that time assured that he will not sublet it hereafter. Notwithstanding the said undertaking, the opponent No. 1 has sublet the portions of the premises even now. A notice dt. 13. 9. 73 terminating the tenancy of ther opponent no. 1 at the end of Jan. 73 has been served on the opponent No. 1-tenant. ( 4 ) THE opponent No. 1 tenant contended that as the lease was for a fixed term of 20 years with effect from 29. 7. 1965, the present eviction is premature. He denied all other allegations, like subletting. He also denied the petitioner's contention that he required the petition premises bonafide and reasonably for his own use and also for effecting repairs. ( 5 ) THE other opponents do not appear to have filed any objections ( 6 ) THE Munsiff, on a scrutiny of the evidence ordered the eviction. The opponent No. 1 tenant being aggrieved by the said order of eviction passed by the Munsiff, approached the District Judge, Bellary with Revn. Petn. No. 25 of 1977. ( 5 ) THE other opponents do not appear to have filed any objections ( 6 ) THE Munsiff, on a scrutiny of the evidence ordered the eviction. The opponent No. 1 tenant being aggrieved by the said order of eviction passed by the Munsiff, approached the District Judge, Bellary with Revn. Petn. No. 25 of 1977. The learned District Judge, on a reappraisal of the evidence, allowed the revision and set aside the order of eviction and in the result dismissed the eviction petition. , Hence the revision by the land lord. ( 7 ) THE leamed counsel Sri. D L. N rao for the opponent No. 1 urged that as the contractual lease was for a period of 20 years with effect from 29. 7. 1965, the present eviction petition filed in 1975 was premature and thus incompc tent. The learned counsel Sri Venkanna for the landlord urged that whether the lease was for a fixed period or no, it does not make any difference in a petition filed under the Karnataka Rent control Act. According to him, even though the lease might be for a fixed period, the eviction petition could be maintained on any one of the grounds mentioned in S. 2. 1, even during the contractual period of tenancy. ( 8 ) LEARNED author Sri Dalai in the bombay Rent Act, 4th edition, page 281 has stated: -"under S. 12 (1), 'the right to possession' is to be distinguished from the right to recover possession'. The right to possession' arises and gets vested in the landlord when the tenancy is determined. So lonj a,s the contractual tenancy continues, under the terms of the contract, a tenant could not be evicted till his tenancy ivas determined. 'the right to recover possession' follows the right to possession. ' When the tenant does not hand over possession on termination of his tenancy, 'the right to recover possession' arises. What sub-Sec. (1) provides is that although a landlord may be entitled to possession', he shall not be entitled to recover possession', so long as the tenant complies with the conditions prescribed therein. The sub-sec. (1), therefore, deals with the second stage, viz 'right to recover possession'. (Underlining italics is mine) the said author -has further stated at page 289 once a contractual tenancy has expired, it is not necessary to serve the tenant with another. notice to quit. The sub-sec. (1), therefore, deals with the second stage, viz 'right to recover possession'. (Underlining italics is mine) the said author -has further stated at page 289 once a contractual tenancy has expired, it is not necessary to serve the tenant with another. notice to quit. "in Bhaiya Punjalal. ,bhagwanddin v. Dave Bhagwatprasad^ Prabhuprasad (1) the Supreme Court held at page 715:"when a tenancy is created ander a contract between the landlord and the tenant that contract must hold good and continue to be in force till according to law or according to the terms of the contract it comes to an end. S. 111 of the Transfer of property Act states the various circumstances in which a lease of immovable property determines. Clause (h) provides for the determination of the lease on the expiration of a notice to determine the lease, or to quit or of intention to quit, the property leased duly given by one party to the other. There is' nothing in the Act which would give a right to the landlord to determine the tenancy and thereby to get the right to evict the tenant and recover possession. This Act was enacted for the purpose of controlling the rents and repairs of certain premises and of eviction due to the tendency of the landlords to take advantage of the extreme scarcity of premises compared to the demand for them. The Act intended therefore to restrict the rights which the landlords possessed either for charging excessive rents or for evicting tenants. A tenant stood in no need of protection against eviction by the land lord so long as he had the necessary protection under the-terms of the contract between him and the landlord. He could not be evicted till his tenancy was determined according to law an therefore there was no necessity for providing any further protection, in. the Act against his eviction so long, as -his tenancy continued 'to exist under the contract. "the Supreme Court further stated at page 715 that sub-sec. He could not be evicted till his tenancy was determined according to law an therefore there was no necessity for providing any further protection, in. the Act against his eviction so long, as -his tenancy continued 'to exist under the contract. "the Supreme Court further stated at page 715 that sub-sec. (1) of S. 12 of the Act provides that a landlord shall not be entitled to the recovery of possession of any premises so long as the tenant pays, or is ready and willing to pay, the amount of the standard rent and permitted increases, if any and observes and performs the other conditions of the tenancy, in so far as they are consistent with the provisions of the Act. It creates a restriction on the landlord's right to the recovery of possession. When the landlord will have such a right is not provided by it. Ordinarily, the landlord will have a right to recover possession from the tenant when the tenancy had determined. The provisions of this section therefore will operate against the landlord after the determination of the tenancy by any of the modes referred to in S. 111 of the Transfer of property Act. What this section of the act provides is that even after the determination of the tenancy a landlord will not be entitled to recover possession, though a right to recover possession gets vested in him, so long as the tenant complies with what he is required to do by this section. It is this extra, protection given by this section which will be useful to the tenant after his tenancy has been determined. The section does not create a new right in the landlord to evict the tenant when the tenant does not pay his rent. It does not say so and therefore, it. is elear that a landlord's eight to evict the tenant for default in payment of rent will arise only after the tenanacy is determined and the continued possession of the tenant is not on accenat of the contractual terms but the account of the statutory night conferred on him to continue in possession so long as he complies with what sun sec. (1) requires of him. The landlord is restricted from evicting the till the tenant does not do what he is required to do for peacefill possession under sub-section (1) of S. 12. (1) requires of him. The landlord is restricted from evicting the till the tenant does not do what he is required to do for peacefill possession under sub-section (1) of S. 12. We are therefore of opinion that where a tenant is in possession under a reuse from the landlord he is not to be evicted tor a cause which would give rise to a suit for recovery of possession under S. 12 if his tanancy has not been determined already. ' Similar is the view expressed in Raghubir Naraayan Lotlikar v. Pernandes (2 ). This court in Pralhad Hucharao Chitupi v. Hubli Ginning and Trading Co. Ltd (3) held that where permanent leasehold rights were granted in favour of the tenant in the land, a clause that it was open to the lessee to surrender the lease at his option did not enafter a corresponding right on the landlord to terminate the lease at his will ' it further stated that the landlord must have a right of re-entry before be can seek eviction under S. 21 and where there is no right reserved to the hand lord to terminate the lease, he cannot seek eviction under S. 21. Similarris the view taken by this court in 8. Sundara v. Purushotham Baliga similar is the view taken in Karmdas v. Karsanji (5 ). It JMKS ibe*n -Jhgid therein that a tenancy must be duty determined either by a notice or by efflux of time or under or the other of the clauses of S 111 t. P. Act before a landlord can sue to evict his tenant on any one of the grounds contained in the clauses of S. 13 (1) Bombay Rent Act. The learned counsel Sri. Venkanna stated that in view of the decision. reported in V. Dhanapal Chettiar v. Yesodai Ammal (6) notice to quit under s. 106 of the transfer of Property Act, was not a condition precedent to the initiation of the eviction proceedings under the rent Control Act. The principle laid down in the said case by the Supreme court is that the quit notice is not necessary in the case of eviction proceedings under the Rent Acts. The principle laid down in the said case by the Supreme court is that the quit notice is not necessary in the case of eviction proceedings under the Rent Acts. On the other hand it further says that even if the lease is determined by forfeiture under the T. P. Act, the tenant continues to be a tenant i. e to say, there is no forfeiture in the eye of law. The tenant becomes liable to be evicted and forfeiture comes into play only if he has incurred the liability to be evicted under the State Rent Act, not otherwise. ( 9 ) S. 21 of the Rent Act speaks that no order or decree for the recovery of possession of any premises shall be made by any court in favour of the landlord against the tenant. S. 21 enumerates the grounds contained in S. 21 (1) (a) to 21 (1) (p) on which the landlord can get the tenant evicted. As already stated above, the question of recovery of possession would come into picture only after the landlord is entitled to possession. The landlord becomes entitled to possession only on the expiry of the period mentioned in the registered lease deed. So long as the contractual period of tenancy is subsisting, the question of the landlord recovering the possession of the premises does not arise. ( 10 ) S. 21 of the Act starts with the words: Protection of tenants against eviction:- (1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other law or contract, no order or decree for the recovery of possession of any premises shall be made by any court or other authority in favour of the landlord against the tenant. " the non-obstante clause only means that even if the landlord might have got a right to possession under any other law or Act, still he is not entitled to dispossess the tenant until he satisfied any one of the grounds metioned in S. 21 (1) (a) to (p ). ( 11 ) IN this case, the registered lease deed does not show that the landlord had got any right of reentry into the property on the happening of any event. There is no clause of reentry at all in the lease deed. ( 11 ) IN this case, the registered lease deed does not show that the landlord had got any right of reentry into the property on the happening of any event. There is no clause of reentry at all in the lease deed. Therefore, under these circumstances, the lease will come to an end only by the expiry of 20 years and not at any time prior to it. ( 12 ) THE learned counsel Sri. Venkanna submitted that under the lease deed, the tenant had undertaken to demolish the verandah lying to the west of the house and to put up a structure with r. C. C. roofing. According to him, this was an express condition and non- compliace with the same amounted to forfeiture of the tenancy. The said recital in the lease deed, reads: 'on removing the verandah lying to the west of the house in the schedule, I will get constructed a hall with R. C. C. roofing. ' this recital, in my opinion, only gave a right to the tenant to demolish the present verandah and to put up a structure with R. C. C. roofing, at his own cost, if he liked, it is a concession given to the tenant. The non compliance with the same cannot forfeit the tenancy, it is not an express condition at all. Therefore, under these circumstances, the contractual tenancy entered into between the parties under the lease deed dated 29. 7. 1965 would come to an end by 29. 7. 1985 only. Therefore present eviction petition which is filed in 1975 is premature and incompetent. Therefore the present eviction petition merits to be dismissed. ( 13 ) I do not propose to enter into the question as to whether the opponent no. 1 has sublet the premises to opponents numbers 2 to 4 and others. I would not like to enter into the question as to whether the landlord requires the petition premises bonafide and reasonably for his own use and occupation or repairs. Any expression of opinion on these points is likely to jeopardise the interests of the landlord or the tenant, in case the landlord were file an eviction petition on the expiry of the contractual period of 20 years. Whatever has been said by the Munsiff and the district Judge on these points, should not be taken as determining these points in dispute. Whatever has been said by the Munsiff and the district Judge on these points, should not be taken as determining these points in dispute. In view of the conclusion that the present eviction petition filed prior to the expiry of the contractual period of 20 years is premature and thus incompetent, the eviction petition merits to be dismissed. The landlord, if he chooses, is at liberty to file a fresh eviction petition after the expriy of the period of lease, on any one of the grounds under S. 21. ( 14 ) IN the result, the revision by the landlord is dismissed. All the parties ara ordered to bear their own costs throughout. --- *** --- .