JUDGMENT - KAPADIA S.H., J.:---The short point involved in this Petition is : whether section 13-A2 of the Bombay Rent Act as amended by Maharashtra Amending Act 18 of 1987 would apply retrospectively to those Leave and Licence Agreements entered into prior to October 1, 1987 when the Amending Act 18 of 1987 came into force.

2. The facts giving rise to the above dispute, briefly, are as follows :-

3. The Respondent herein was put in possession of the suit premises on September 1, 1979. On March 20, 1980 the purported Leave and Licence Agreement came to be executed. The Agreement indicates the date of commencement as September 1, 1979. The tenor of the agreement indicates that the agreement was for 11 months and it expired on August 31, 1980. On August 31, 1980, the Respondent did not vacate the premises. On February 7, 1992 the respondent herein instituted a declaratory suit under section 28 of the Bombay Rent Act inter alia alleging that the agreement of Leave and Licence dated March 20, 1980 was, in substance, a Tenancy Agreement. In the above suit, the Respondent claimed protection of the Bombay Rent Act. The writ of summons in the above Declaratory Suit came to be served on the P

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