Judgement

WANCHOO, J. :- The appellant took on lease two survey numbers from the respondent, Sholapur Borough Municipality on April 1, 1946 for a period of three years. The land is situate within the municipal limits. About November 8, 1946, the Bombay Tenancy Act, No. 29 of 1939 (hereinafter referred to as the 1939-Act) was applied to this area and S. 3-A of that Act provided that every tenant shall on the expiry of one year from the date of the coming into force of the Bombay Tenancy (Amendment) Act, (No. XXVI of 1946) be deemed to be a protected tenant unless his landlord has within the said period made an application to the Mamlatdar for a declaration that the tenant was not a protected one. The respondent did not file a suit within one year and therefore the appellant claimed to have become a protected tenant under the 1939-Act. The 1939-Act was repealed in 1948 by the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, No. LXVII of 1948 (hereinafter referred to as the 1948-Act). Section 31 of the 1948- Act provided that for the purposes of this Act a person shall be recognised to be a protected tenant if such person had been deemed to be a protected tenant under S. 3, 3-A or 4 of the 1