Under Section 13 of the Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Area) Tenancy Act, 1956, a cultivating tenant can only be evicted for failure to pay rent within a stipulated period or according to local usage, and this stipulation must be in a written lease deed, not an oral agreement.

P. A. CHOUDARY, J.

( 1 ) THE matter arises under the Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Area) Tenancy Act, 1956 hereinafter called the Act. The Writ Petitioners are tenants under the appellant landlord with respect to Ac. 5-25 cents of Kovvur village of West Godavari District. On the ground that the tenants defaulted in paying rents by 14-1-1970, the landlord obtained orders of eviction of the tenants from the Court of the Tahsildar, Kavvur. This order of the Tahsildar was upheld by the appellate authority against which the tenants have filed a write Petition which was allowed by our learned brother Sheth. J. It is this order of Sheth J. which is the subject mater of the present writ appeal.

( 2 ) THE case of the landlord who seeks to determine the century old tenancy and evict his tenants is that the tenants failed to pay rent for the year 1969-70 by Makara Sankarish (14--1-1970) which is the date orally agreed to between the parties. The tenants admit that they paid part of the rent in April, 1970 and that the balance they deposited into count but they pleaded that the end of the agricultural year is the date by which the rent falls due and not the Makara Sankranthi.

( 3 ) THE land in question has been under the occupation of the present tenants or their predecessors in title for well over a hundred years. There is no written lease. After the commencement of the Act, the tenants are continuing to be governed by the terms of the Act.

( 4 ) THE question is when there is no written stipulation as to the day of payment of rent can a tenant be evicted on the basis of his oral agreement.

( 5 ) UNDER Section 10 (1) of the Act, the minimum period of a fresh lease entered into after the commencement of the Act shall be for six years. The Act says that such a lease shall not only be in writing but also be registered. Section 10 (2) of the Act directs that all pre-existing leases shall continue to be in force.

( 6 ) IT is necessary to note that a "cultivating tenant" was defined to mean a person who cultivates by his own labour or by that of any other member of his family or by hired labour under his supervision and control, any land belonging to another under a tenancy agreement express or implied; but does not include a mere intermediary.

( 7 ) NOW our courts have held that notwithstanding the mandatory form of the language used by Section 10 (1) of the Act fresh oral leases are valid; they are valid although for a period of less than six years. It is on that basis they upheld the benefits that this socially ameliorative measure confers on the tenants under leases either written or unwritten, either registered or unregistered, either for a period of six years or less. All this is now well-settled and the decisions firmly determine the scope and meaning of several Sections of the Act. (See Subbaraju v. Dandiganapudy Dharma Cheruvu, (1965) 2 Andh WR 144); Srinivasa Sastry v. Appayya, (1964) 1 Andh Wr 37; Venkata Narasimharaju v. Venkataramayya, (1965) 1 Andh Wr 481) and Sri Venugopalawamy Varu V. K. Chittayya, (1974) 1 Andh WR 388) ).

( 8 ) NOW the question we are concerned with in this Writ Appeal is about the meaning of Section 13 of the Act which provides for termination of the tenancies, Section 13 reads as follows:- "termination of Tenancy: Notwithstanding anything contained in "termination of Tenancy: Notwithstanding anything contained in Sections 10, 11 and 12, no landlord shall be entitled to terminate the tenancy and evict his cultivating tenant during the currency of a lease except by an application made in that behalf to the Tahsildar, and unless such cultivating tenant: (a) has failed to pay the rent due by him within a period of one month from the date stipulated in the lease deed or in the absence of such stipulation, within a period of one month from the date on which the rent is due according to the usage of the locality, and in case the rent is payable in the form of a share in the produce, has failed to deliver the produce at the

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