L. NARASIMHA REDDY, J.

( 1 ) THIS appeal is filed against the order, dated 29-10-2001, as amended through the order, dated 8-2-2002, in I. A. No. 771 of 1996 (final decree) in O. S. No. 13 of 1985 on the file of the Senior Civil, judge, Nellore. The appellants are the owners of the premises bearing Municipal No. 314 in Ward no. 15, R. R. Street, Trunk Road, Nellore. The building, together with the fixtures was leased to the respondents herein. The suit was filed for eviction of the respondents from premises and recovery of mesne profits. The building and the fixtures were shown as schedule a and b properties respectively. The suit was decreed on 23-4-1996. The respondents filed A. S. No. 2893 of 1996 in this Court. It was dismissed on 18-2-1997. L. P. A. No. 63 of 1997 was dismissed by a Division Bench on 24-7-1997.

( 2 ) THE decree of the Trial Court, as regards the recovery of possession of the property, became final and was given effect to. The claim of the appellants for damages and use and occupation of a and b schedule properties was allowed to an extent of Rs. 15,300/- and Rs. 3,060/- respectively upto the date of the suit. It was left open to the appellants to institute separate proceedings for determination of mesne profits.

( 3 ) THE appellants filed I. A. No. 771 of 1996 under Order XX Rule 12 C. P. C. for determination of mesne profits. The Trial court appointed an Advocate-Commissioner (for short the Commissioner ) for this purpose. The damages for use and occupation of the premises with effect from 1-2-1985 till the date of recovery of possession i. e. 16-3-1998 were required to be determined. After considering the claims made before him, the Commissioner submitted a report on 28-8-1998. The commissioner opined that the damages for use and occupation are payable at Rs. 3/- per s. ft. from 1988 to 1991, at Rs. 4/- per s. ft. from 1991 to 1994, at Rs. 5/- per s. ft. from 1994 to 1997 and at Rs. 6/- per s. ft. , for 1997-98.

( 4 ) OBJECTIONS were filed to this report. Both the parties adduced oral and documentary evidence in support of their respective contentions. P. Ws . 1 to 3 were examined before the Commissioner, on behalf of the appellants and Exs. A1 to A4 were marked. R. Ws. 1 and 2 were examined in similar fashion and Exs. B1 to B5 were marked. The proceedings and material before the Commissioner were treated as apart of the record.

( 5 ) ON a consideration of the material before it, the Trial Court determined the amounts payable at Rs. 3,000/- per month from 1985 to 1988 with 10% enhancement for each slab of three years.

( 6 ) SRI Y. Ratnakar, the learned counsel for the appellants, submits that the trial Court ignored the reports submitted by the Commissioner and had fixed the damages for the premises at totally disproportionate levels. He submits that the building is situated in a commercially developed locality within the vicinity of Grand Trunk Road in nellore Town and that Exs. A1 to A4 indicate the rent which the suit schedule premises would fetch and that it would be more than what is opined by the commissioner. He contends that the Trial court refused to take into account, Exs. A2 and A4, on a totally irrelevant ground. The learned Counsel further submits that even according to the witnesses examined on behalf of the respondents, the suit schedule premises is in a relatively developed and advantageous location and that the rent for similarly situated premises is very high. He has placed reliance upon several judgments rendered by various Courts. He further submits that the Trial Court did not deal with the mesne profits in respect of schedule b properties at all.

( 7 ) SRI M. V. S. Suresh Kumar, the learned Counsel for the respondents, on the other hand, submits that the building is very old and is in a low-lying area. He submits that the rent was Rs. 1,150/- per month at the commencement of lease in 1973 and since then the appellants have not carried any repair to it. He further contends

Click Here to Read the rest of this document