JUDGMENT :

Leave granted.

2. The appellant, as the landlord, is the original applicant in an eviction proceeding instituted under Section 14 of the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) seeking recovery of possession of a shop room located at Connaught Place in the central part of Delhi. The eviction proceeding was instituted in the year 1974. We shall henceforth refer to the shop room as “subject-premises”. In that proceeding instituted before the Rent Controller, Delhi, altogether three individuals and three firms were originally impleaded as respondents. In this appeal, however, only three respondents have been impleaded, being the firm-Young Friends & Co. and two individuals – Ashu Mohan Gupta and Shashi Gupta. They have been described as contesting respondents. On that count, however, no controversy has been raised before us. The appellant admittedly is the landlord of the subject-premises. This was rented out to the then proprietor (since deceased) of the first respondent in the year 1936. The appellant became the landlord thereof on having purchased the subject-premises from its erstwhile owner in the year 1958. The main ground on which eviction w