JUDGMENT

VENKATARAMIAH, J. :—The principal question for consideration in this appeal by special leave is whether a person who was formerly a member of the Armed Forces can recover possession of a building which was acquired by him after he had retired from the Armed Forces under S. 13-A1 of the Bombay Rents, Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act, 1947 (Act No. 57 of 1947) (hereinafter referred to as the Act) for occupation by himself or any member of his family.

2. The plaintiff Lt. Col. T. E. Ross was formerly serving as a member of the Indian Army and he retired from the military service in the year 1967. The property of which the suit building forms a part originally belonged to his mother-in-law, Mrs. Arcene Parera. She gifted the said property in favour of her daughter, Mrs. Winifred Ross, the wife of the plaintiff on Nov. 9, 1976. The property consisted of some out-houses. The defendant has been a tenant in one of those out-houses for a number of years. The said premises consisted of two rooms and a verandah. On June 6, 1977, Mrs. Winifred Ross gifted the portion in which the defendant was residing as a tenant in favour of the plaintiff. The remaining part of the property