Judgement

GAJENDRAGADKAR, J. : This appeal by special leave arises out of a tenancy case instituted by the appellant against his tenants the respondents in the Court of the Mamaltdar, Raver (East Khandesh), in the State of Maharashtra. The property in suit consists of agricultural lands, Survey Nos. 32 and 38, situated in the village Raipur. The respondents had executed a rent note in respect of these lands in favour of the appellant on February 5, 1943. The period for which the rent note was executed was five years and the rent agreed to be paid annually was Rs. 785. In ordinary course the lease would have expired on March 31, 1948. However, before the lease expired on April 11, 1946 the Bombay Tenancy Act, 1939 (Bombay Act XXIX of 1939) was applied to the area of East Khandesh where the lands are situated, and in consequence as a result of Section 23 (1) (b) of the said Act the five years period stipulated in the rent note was statutorily extended to ten years; the result was that under the said statutory provision the rent note in favour of the respondents would have expired on March 31, 1953. During the subsistence of the tenancy thus statutorily extended the Bombay Tenancy and