Back
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
M.H. BEG AND P.N. SHINGHAL, JJ.
Jangbir, Appellant
Versus
Mahavir Prasad Gupta, Respondent.
Civil Appeal No. 768 of 1972,
D/- 22-9-1976.
Advocates appeared
Mr. G. N. Dikshit. Sr. Advocate, (Mr. R. N. Dikshit, Advocate with him), for Appellant; Mr. O. P. Malhotra, Sr. Advocate, (M/s. S. N. Mehta, Uma Datta, Sat Pal and H. Iyengar, Advocates with him), for Respondent. 28
Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 - Section 507 (a) - Delhi Rent Control Act. 1958 - Sub-section (2) of Section 1 - Transfer of Property - Recovery of rent – Tenant - Whether a particular number containing house in question was included within to whole of which provisions of Act had been plainly extended - Whether house of respondent was situated in an area to which Act had been applied by a notification under Section 507 (a) of Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, dated January published in Delhi Gazette on January read with notification dated April under Section 1, sub-section (2) of Act published in Gazette of India on April - Whether area to be included was sufficiently indicated or not - Respondent landlord had alleged that suit lay in the ordinary civil Court and that it was governed by provisions of Transfer of Property Act inasmuch as house in which the appellant was tenant of a room - Fell outside the area to which Act was applicable - Short question on which case was decided was whether house of respondent was situated in an area to which Act had been applied by a notification under Section 507 (a) of Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 published in Delhi Gazette read with notification under Section 1, sub-section (2) of the Act published in Gazette of India - Thereafter was given a schedule and then came heading Zones - Schedule has five columns - First is for serial No - Second is for name of Revenue estate which is translation said to be an area composed of several villages - Third column is for name of actual village or colony - It is headed Name of Colony Village proposed to be included in urban area - Forth column is for what is called square number - Last and fifth column was headed Covered by Colony/villages - Court are concerned here with serial which has entries indicated below made under appropriate number of each column – Held, Court find that provisions of Section 1 (2) of Act as well as of Section 507 (a) and (b) of Delhi Municipal Corporation Act refer only to areas and not to mere Khasra which are convenient divisions for purposes of indicating what lay within each area is often spoken of as village map - Areas even indicate type of construction which may lie within a particular number or use to which a piece of land was being put - Term urban area or rural area is used for much larger units - It would obviously be quite impossible to think of one particular number within an abadi area left out or dropped deliberately without any rhyme or reason from notifications mentioned above - No conceivable reason has been suggested for such an omission – Indeed there is not even an omission effect of which may have been helpful to appellant - It was only a case where whole number is shown against one village only instead of being shown against two - Learned High Court Judge by basing his whole judgment on a far-fetched conjecture from supposed omission in column against Nagar adopted a contraction of notification if that is what learned Judge was doing which was quite unintelligible with reference to facts of case or purposes of such notifications - Learned Judge would have been well advised to rest content with obviously correct position that what two Courts below had done was to arrive at a pure finding of fact as to whether a particular Khasra number containing house in question was included within a Mauza to whole of which provisions of Act had been plainly extended - In view of all facts of case no other conclusion was reasonably possible - Appeal allowed
Judgment
BEG, J.:- Jangbir, appellant is a tenant of a room in a house which was purchased by the respondent Mahavir Prasad Gupta on 15th May, 1956, for Rs. 1930/- shown in his sale deed as situated in "Khasra No. 203, Khewat No. 1, situated at Village Chowkri Mubarakabad. Delhi Province, within the abadi of Onkar Nagar-II" The landlord owner had filed a suit for the ejectment of the appellant and for recovery of rent which was dismissed by a Subordinate Judge of Delhi on 26th May, 1966 on the ground that the jurisdiction of the Civil Court was barred by the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958, (hereinafter referred to as the Act) which provided the only modes of relief for aggrieved landlords by proceeding under the Act.
2. The respondent landlord had alleged that the suit lay in the ordinary civil Court and that it was governed by the provisions of the Transfer of Property Act inasmuch as the house, in which the appellant was the tenant of a room. fell outside the area to which the Act was applicable. The short question on which the case was decided was whether the house of the respondent was situated in an area to which the Act had been applied by a notification under Section 507 (a) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, dated 7th January, 1960, published in the Delhi Gazette on 17 January, 1960 read with the notification dated 12th April 1962 under Section 1, sub-section (2) of the Act, published in the Gazette of India on 21st April, 1962.
3. The operative part of the notification of the Delhi Administration reads as follows:
"No. F. 9/5/59-R &S- In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (a) of Section 507 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 (66 of 1957), the Corporation with the previous approval of the Central Government hereby declares that the following localities mentioned in the Schedule given below, hitherto forming part of the rural areas, shall cease to be rural area."
Thereafter, was given a schedule and then came the heading: "Shahdara Zone". The schedule has 5 columns. The first is for the "serial No." The second is for the name of the "Revenue estate", which is translation of Mauza, said to be an area composed of several villages. The third column is for the name of the actual village or colony of the Mauza. It is headed "Name of Colony Village proposed to be included in the urban area." The forth column is for what is called the "square number." The last and the fifth column was headed: "Khasra/Killa Nos. Covered by the Colony/villages." we are concerned here with serial No. 7 which has the entries indicated below made under the appropriate number of each column:
"1. No. 7.
2. Chowki Mubarakabad.
3. Onkar Nagar
Lekhu Pura.
4. Square No. Not given.
5. Across "Onkar Nagar" are shown: "238, 242, 240, 234, 235, 236, 231, 230 and 271": and across "Lekhu pura" are shown: "215 to 217, 211, 212, 199 to 203."
4. The notification published in the Gazette of India on 21st April, 1962 may be reproduced in toto. It reads:
"New Delhi, the 12th April, 1962.
G. S. R. No. 486 - In exercise of powers conferred by the proviso to sub-section (2) of Section 1 of the Delhi Rent Control Act. 1958 (59 of 1958), the Central Government hereby extends all the provisions of the said Act:-
(a) to the areas which immediately before the 7th April, 1958, were included in the Notified Area Committee, Najafgarh and the Notified Area Committee, Narela; and
(b) to the localities mentioned in the schedule to the notification of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi No. F-9/5/59-R&S dated the 28th December, 1959, published in the Delhi Gazette Part IV, dated the 7th January, 1960, and which by virtue of that notification have formed part of the urban areas within the limits of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
No. 35/8/61-Delhi-I)
A. V. VENKATASUBBAN,
DEPUTY SECRETARY
5. The Subordinate Judge, very rightly observed that there was no dispute between the parties that Mauza Chowkri Mubarakabad was included within the limits of Delhi Municipal Corporation
An indispensable Tool for Legal Professionals, Endorsed by Various High Court and Judicial Officers
Please visit our Training & Support
Center or Contact Us for assistance
Scan Me!
India’s Legal research and Law Firm App, Download now!
For Daily Legal Updates, Join us on :
Back to top
