The main legal point established in the judgment is the interpretation of the phrase 'a year of the tenancy' in Section 9 (1) (b) (iii) of the West Bengal Non-Agricultural Tenancy Act, 1949, to mean a period of 12 months according to the calendar of the particular tenancy, starting with its date of commencement or any anniversary thereof.

( 1 ) ONLY a short point arises for consideration in this reference. The point is what is the true meaning of the phrase or expression 'a year of the tenancy' in Section 9 (1) (b) (iii) of the West Bengal Non-Agricultural Tenancy Act, 1949, in relation to tenancies from month to month. There is one direct decision on this point, namely, in the case of Radha Charan Das v. Pravabati Dassr, 63 Gal WN 535, where Banerjee, J. , held inter alia -- and that is how he has explained it in the present "letter of reference," -- that, under the aforesaid section, in case of tenancies from month to month, six months' notice must be given expiring, -- and terminating the tenancy, -- with "the anniversary of the expiration of the month of the tenancy" or, in other words, that a year in the above expression "a year of the tenancy" in Section 9 (1) (h) (iii) of the West Bengal Non-Agricultural Tenancy Act, 1949, means a year or a period of twelve months, expiring on the anniversary of the expiration of the month of the tenancy in the succeeding year or years.

( 2 ) THREE other decisions have also been referred to in the above connection. The first and the case o Sudhindra Math Roy v. Haran Chan-dra Mistry, Section A. No. 879 of 1950, D/- 25-1-1955, not yet reported, where Das Gupta, J. , as he then was, sitting with Guha, J. , while rejecting the argument that the above provision (Section 9 (1) (b) (iii)) would not apply to tenancies other than yearly tenancies or tenancies from year to year, made incidentally, in the course of the judgment, the following observations: "even where the tenancy is from month to month, 12 months will make a year and when the 12 months have expired a year of the tenancy has expired. " obviously suggesting thereby that, in the case of monthly tenancies or tenancies from month to month, the above section may well be applied by construing the phrase in question and computing or calculating "a year of the tenancy" as comprising a period of 12 months from the beginning of the tenancy and each successive period of 12 months thereafter. The second case Narayan Chandra Sen v. Sripati Charan Kumar, Section A. No, 425 of 1952, D/- 9-8-1955, by Das Gupta and Bachawat, JJ. . also unreported, does not add anything material for our present purpose, but merely follows the above earlier decision upon the actual point decided, which was the same there as in the said earlier case, namely, whether Section 9 (1) (h) (iii) of the West Bengal Non-Agricultural Tenancy Act, 1949, would apply at all to monthly tenancies or tenancies from month to month, and apparently also with regard to the above incidental observations, made in tile said earlier pronouncement of this Court The third case, Jagannath Upadhyay v. Amarendra Nath Banerjee, MANU/wb/0131/1957. is a decision of Renupada Mukherjee, J. and myself, in which the validity and sufficiency of the notice to quit was challenged on the ground that the tenancy there having commenced under a Kabuliyat dated the 8th Sravan, 1344 B. S. which was also the date of the tenant's entry into possession, the notice to quit expiring with the end of Chaitra, 1356 B. S. was invalid and insufficient, or, in other words, that the disputed tenancy having commenced on the 8th of a Bengali Calendar month could not be validly terminated by a notice to quit expiring with the end of such a month. This contention was overruled by the Court upon the finding that, in the particular facts and circumstances of the case, as noted' in the judgment, and on a proper interpretation of the relevant Kabuliyat, the said tenancy must be deemed to have commenced on the Jst of Sravan, 1344, B. S. notwithstanding execution of the Kabuliyat and the tenant's entry into possession on the 8th, or, in other words, that the tenancy ran according to Bengali Calendar month and, accordingly, the notice to quit expiring with the end of Chaitra, 1356 B. S. , that is, with the end of a Bengali Calendar month was val