JUDGMENT

N.D. OJHA, J.

(1) SPECIAL leave granted.

(2) THESE civil appeals have been preferred against a common judgment of the Bombay High court dismissing Writ Petition No. 3313 of 1987 filed by Arjun Khiamal Makhijani who is the appellant in one of these appeals and Writ Petition No. 3417 of 1987 by Prithdayal Chetandas and others who are the appellants in the other civil appeal. Jamnadas C. Tuliani who is respondent 1 in both these appeals is the owner and the landlord of the suit premises comprising two bedrooms flat together with a garage on the ground floor and a store room on Bhulabhai Desai Road in the city of Bombay. A suit was instituted by him for ejectment from the said premises against five defendants on the ground that they were tenants of the said premises and were in arrears of rent for a period of more than six months which they had not paid in spite of a notice of demand having been served on them as contemplated by Ss. (2 of S. 12 of the Bombay Rents, Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act, 1947 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) and were consequently liable for eviction under Ss. (3(a) of the Act as it then stood. Two other grounds were pleaded