ORDER :

1. Can pre-1945 rent of Rs. 165/- P.M. be fixed as fair rent to-day and can the tenant get a refund of rent for 11 years backwards (from 1963 to 1974) in spite of statutory changes and improvement to the building, is the main question in this C.R.P. If this plea of the petitioner-tenant is to be accepted, the respondent-landlady will have to refund Rs. 31,490/- towards arrears and, in fact, the petitioner-tenant wanted to attach and take back even the rent of Rs. 165/- P.M. he has been depositing since 1974-leaving the landlady with “no rent” at all for the last 14 years (from 1974 to 1978). (During this very period, the petitioner-tenant collected rent upto Rs. 950/- P.M. from the sub-tenant). It might appear strange but that in fact, is the plea of the petitioner-tenant in this case.

2. The tenant filed the H.R.C. No. 133/74 for refund of a sum of Rs. 31,490/- being the alleged excess rent paid for over 11 years from 9-9-1963 to 9-11-1974 at the rate of Rs. 235/- P.M. The trial Court passed a decree for Rs. 31,490/- in favour of the tenant but the same was set aside by the appellate Court. The petitioner became a tenant under a registered lease deed, Ex. B-2, dated 9.9.19