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1993 Supreme(SC) 98

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
BEFORE KULDIP SINGH AND N.M. KASLIWAL, JJ.
PULIN BEHARI LAL .. Appellant;
Versus
MAHADEB DUTTA AND OTHERS .. Respondents.
Civil Appeal No. 2629 of 1980,
Decided on 3-2-1993
Appeal dismissed with costs
Advocates appeared:
Dr Shankar Ghosh, Senior Advocate (Somnath Mukherjee and P.K. Mukherjee, Advocates, with him) for the Appellant;
Rathin Das, Advocate, for the Respondents.

Advocates:
P.K.MUKHERJI, RATHIN DAS, SHANKAR GOPAL PAGIRE, SOM NATH MUKHERJI

Headnote:

West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act, 1956 - Section 13(l)(a), 16(1) - Suit for partition - One roadside shop-room - Recovery of possession - appellant took one roadside shop-room in ground floor on rent at rate of Rs 50 per month - Suit for partition etc., between the owners of said premises - Commissioner of Partition and Receiver notified the appellant about the said sale and asked him to attorn his tenancy and to pay rent to respondents - Appellant as such started paying rent to the respondent purchasers - Respondent-landlords sent a notice to quit on the ground of default in the payment of rent and subletting - Appellant sent a reply in writing denying the alleged default in payment of rent as well as subletting - Respondents filed a suit for ejectment in the city civil court - Suit was based on the ground of default in the payment of rent and subletting. The trial court decided the question of default in the payment of rent in favour of the appellant but decided the question of subletting against him and as such decreed the suit by Judgment - Held, fact regarding subletting to came to the notice of landlord-respondent for the first time, sub lessee himself sent a notice through his solicitor intimating to the respondent-landlords partnership and appellant had been dissolved. In the said notice it had been stated that the appellant due to old age and physical infirmities had become unable to discharge his duties in the partnership business and as such had transferred, assigned all his interest, goodwill of the business and his right, title and interest to absolutely and forever - Thus any acceptance of rent from the appellant cannot amount to any waiver in respect of the right of eviction on the ground of subletting. Be that as it may, admittedly there is no compliance with Section 16 also in the present case and this is an additional factor on the basis of which the tenant appellant cannot escape the liability of eviction - Present appeal is dismissed

JUDGMENT

KASLIWAL, J.-

This is a tenants appeal by grant of special leave in a suit for eviction decreed against him by all the courts.

2. The appellant took one roadside shop-room in the ground floor of premises No. 75, Surendra Nath Banerjee Road, Calcutta on rent at the rate of Rs 50 per month. On September 27, 1973 the respondents herein purchased the premises in question from the Commissioner of Partition and Receiver in Arup Kumar Dhar v. Satya Narayan Dhar {High Court Suit No. 1183 of 1961} a suit for partition etc., between the owners of the said premises. The said Commissioner of Partition and Receiver notified the appellant about the said sale and asked him to attorn his tenancy and to pay rent to the respondents. The appellant as such started paying rent to the respondent purchasers till January 1975. On May 21, 1975 the respondent-landlords sent a notice to quit on the ground of default in the payment of rent and subletting. The appellant sent a reply in writing on June 6, 1975 denying the alleged default in payment of rent as well as subletting. The respondents filed a suit for ejectment on December 12, 1975 in the city civil court at Calcutta (3rd Bench). The suit was based on the ground of default in the payment of rent and subletting. The trial court decided the question of default in the payment of rent in favour of the appellant but decided the question of subletting against him and as such decreed the suit by Judgment dated June 12, 1979. The appellant aggrieved against the aforesaid Judgment filed an appeal before the High Court.

3. A Division Bench of the High Court consisting of N.C. Mukherji and Surendra Mohan Guha, JJ. heard the appeal. Guha, J. held that the plaintiffs had knowledge of assignment or subletting in favour of Sujoy Kumar Dass Gupta much earlier than the last payment of rent in January 1975. In this view of the matter Guha, J. held that the rent having been accepted after the knowledge of subletting long before the determination of tenancy, the natural inference from this conduct would be that the plaintiffs had waived or dispensed with their right of forfeiture, Guha, J. as such accepted the appeal and directed the dismissal of the plaintiffs suit. N.C. Mukherji, J. disagreed with the aforesaid view of Guha, J. and according to him the tenants liability to eviction arose under the West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act, 1956 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) once the fact of subletting was proved. According to Mukherji, J. a tenant under the Act was under an obligation to pay rent to the landlord and there was no question of waiving the right of forfeiture by accepting of the rent by the landlord. In view of the difference of opinion between the two learned Judges the matter was referred to a third learned Judge. Mr P.K. Banerjee J., the third learned Judge by his order dated June 23, 1980 agreed with the view of N.C. Mukherji, J. The majority view being in favour of the respondent landlords, the appeal was ultimately dismissed by the High Court by order dated July 25, 1980. Aggrieved against the Judgment of the High Court, the tenant has come in appeal to this Court. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and have gone through the record. The trial court as well as all the learned Judges including Guha, J. in the High Court have recorded a finding of fact that there was no previous consent in writing by the landlord for the sub-tenancy created by the tenant appellant. This finding of fact is binding on the appellant and cannot be assailed before this Court. The only question on which Guha, J. held in favour of the tenant-appellant was that the rent having been accepted after the knowledge of subletting, the natural inference from this conduct would be that the landlords had waived the right of claiming eviction against the tenant. In our view in the facts and circumstances of the present case the aforesaid view taken by Guha, J. is not correct. A perusal of the provisions of Sections 13











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