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1979 Supreme(SC) 447

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
S. MURTAZA FAZAL ALI AND A.P. SEN JJ.
Mohan Singh, Appellant
Versus
Subhash Chander Julka. Respondent.
Civil Appeal No. 241 of 1979
Decided on 24-10-1979.

Headnote:

Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958 – Section 25B - Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act, 1956 – Section 19 - Petition for eviction – Sut for premises - This appeal by special leave is directed against Order of High Court of Delhi dismissing an application in revision filed by appellant before High Court - Plaintiff-respondent had filed petition for eviction of appellant on ground of his bona fide requirement in respect of premises which consist of two rooms one store room, open courtyard, bathroom, latrine, kitchen on the first floor on the second floor, with open terrace - Eviction was sought for in respect only of first floor and portion of second flood, being ground floor occupied by landlord-respondent himself - Property in dispute was originally evacuee property but subsequently plaintiff-respondent appears to have acquired property in dispute from custodian - Appellant filed an application before Rent Controller for leave to defend suit under provisions of Section 25B of the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958 but the Rent Controller rejected application as it found that no arguable points were raised in the defence by the appellants - Whether or not competent authority is empowered to give partial permission for eviction – Held, controller has rightly pointed out that a mere clerical omission in the second floor would not have the effect of wiping out the extent of the permission granted by the controller in respect of the premises in dispute - Controller has also pointed out that it was not disputed before him that permission was actually sought before the competent authority only for the premises in dispute - Order of the competent authority, therefore, in the circumstances must be clearly relatable to the premises in dispute which only was for consideration before him and the competent authority did not give any finding that he wanted to confine or restrict his order to a part of the premises by splitting the premises into two parts so as to grant permission in respect of one and not to the other - Thus, in view of the finding of fact given by Rent Controller which has not been shown to be incorrect before court, it is not possible for us to hold that competent authority had given permission only for a portion of premises in dispute and not for the entire premises - For the reasons given above, the appeal is dismissed but in the circumstances of case, decree of eviction passed by the Controller is upheld - Time till 31-5-80 is given to the tenant to hand over peaceful and vacant possession to landlord on filing an undertaking to this Court within a month accompanied by an affidavit that he would do so on the date fixed and shall not induct any other person on the premises - Tenant will, during this period, continue to pay the compensation for wrongful use of premises equivalent to the amount of the rent and clear all arrears - Appeal dismissed.

JUDGMENT

FAZAL ALI, J.:— This appeal by special leave is directed against the Order of the High Court of Delhi dismissing an application in revision filed by the appellant before the High Court.

2. In the view that we take in the case, it is not necessary to give the facts in detail as they are already contained in the Order of the Rent Controller. The plantiff-respondent had filed the petition for eviction of the appellant on the ground of his bona fide requirement in respect of the premises which consist of two rooms one store room, open verandah, courtyard, bathroom, latrine, kitchen on the first floor and barsati on the second floor, with open terrace. The eviction was sought for in respect only of the first floor and portion of the second flood, being the ground floor occupied by the landlord-respondent himself. The property in dispute was originally evacuee property but subsequently the plaintiff-respondent appears to have acquired the property in dispute from the custodian. The appellant filed an application before the Rent Controller for leave to defend the suit under the provisions of Section 25B of the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958 (hereinafter to be referred to as the Rent Act) but the Rent Controller rejected the application as it fount that no arguable points were raised in the defence by the appellants. Against that order, the appellant went up to the High Court in revision which set aside the order of the Rent Controller and the decree for eviction passed by him and remanded the case to the Rent Controller for permitting the appellant to defend the suit. Thereafter, the appellant filed his written statement and took various pleas challenging the title of the respondent as also the bona fide requirement alleged by the landlord. The Rent Controller, after taking the evidence of the parties as required under Section 25B. found that the plaintiff-respondent had proved his case of bona fide requirement and consequently passed a decree for eviction of the appellant. Thereafter, the appellant filed an appeal before the Rent Control Tribunal which having been dismissed, the appellant moved the High Court in revision which also was summarily dismissed and hence this appeal. We might also mention that the respondent before seeking the decree for eviction had moved the competent authority under Section 19 of the Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act, 1956 (hereinafter to be referred to as the Slums Act) and got the permission from the competent authority for evicting the appellant.

3. In support of the appeal, Mr. V. C. Mahajan, raised two points, one of which he did not press, and, in our opinion, rightly. The first point which was raised by the appellant was regarding the constitutional validity of Section 25B of the Rent Act. In view of our decision in Civil Appeal No. 1291 of 1978 (D/- 4-10-79) Kewal Singh v. Smt. Lajwanti (report in AIR 1980 SC 161) which has upheld the constitutional validity of the Rent Act, the contention regarding the vires of S. 25B of the Rent Act does not survive and was, therefore, given up.

4. The other contention raised by Mr. Mahajan was that the competent authority under the Slums Act had only granted permission with respect to a portion of the premises in dispute and, therefore. adecree for eviction by the Controller could not have been passed for the entire premises. In support of the contention. the learned counsel relied on a decision of this Court reported in AIR 1977 SC 789 Lal Chand v. Radha Kishan where this Court observed as follows:-

"The authorities under the Slum Clearance Act who are exclusively invested with the power to determine whether a decree for eviction should be permitted to be executed and, if so, to what extent, had finally decided that question, refusing to allow the respondent to execute the decree in respect of the ground floor premises. By the present suit, the respondent is once again asking for the relief which was included in the larger relief sought by him i






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