Judgment

Mrs. Sujata V. Manohar, J.-The appellants are the owners of proper­ties in Delhi which are governed by the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 or the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911. Prior to coming into force of the Delhi Rent Control (Amend­ment) Act, 1988, these proper­ties were governed by the Delhi Rent Control Act of 1958.

2. By the Delhi Rent Control (Amend­ment) Act, 1988 sub-sections 3(c) and (d) were added in Section 3 of the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958. These provide that nothing in the said Act shall apply “(c) to any premises, whether residential or not, whose monthly rent exceeds three thousand and five hundred rupees”; or “(d) to any premises constructed on or after the commencement of the Delhi Rent Control (Amendment) Act, 1988, for a period of ten years from the date of completion of such construction”. On the said provisions coming into force the appellants received notices under Section 126 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act for the assessment year 1988-89 and for subsequent years proposing to revise the rateable value of their properties. The footnote to those notices stated that this was in view of the amend­ments to the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1988.