ORDER

1. The petitioners are the tenants. Their case is that they had obtained a lease dated 10-3-1978 from the landlord (respondent) for a period of 15 years with effect from 1-7-1976 and so they are entitled to be in exclusive possession till 30-6-1991 in terms of the lease deed. Before the expiry of the term the eviction petition was filed by the landlord in 1988 under the Rent Control Act, which is not maintainable. The High Court has held that the provisions of the Karnataka Rent Control Act, 1961 override the contractual tenancy and the eviction proceeding was laid "bona fide" for "own occupation". In holding that the Rent Act will prevail, the High Court felt bound by the decision of this Court in Shri Lakshmi Venkateshwara Enterprises (P) Ltd. v. Syeda Vajhiunnissa Begum [(1994) 2 SCC 671].

2. We have heard the counsel. Our attention was invited to an earlier decision of this Court in V. Dhanapal Chettiar v. Yesodai Ammal [(1979) 4 SCC 214]. The plea was that the earlier Full Bench decision of the High Court in Sri Ramakrishna Theatres Ltd. v. General Investments and Commercial Corpn. Ltd. [ILR 1992 Kant 1296 : AIR 1993 Kant 90], which is in accord with Dhanapal Chettiar ca