The Estate Officer has the authority to issue show-cause notices to unauthorized occupants liable for eviction, and factual disputes, including the applicability of Central Government guidelines, should be adjudicated by the Estate Officer during the proceedings.

S. K. MOOKHERJEE, J.

( 1 ) THESE two appeals are directed against the order of a learned Single Judge in a proceeding, at the instance of the respondents to the present appeal, inter alia, challenging a show cause notice issued by the Estate Officer of the appellants with regard to the premises occupied as tenants by the writ petitioners in the two cases.

( 2 ) NOTICES were issued for ejectment of the respondents on two grounds, namely, (1) ground of default and (2) alteration of the premises in occupation of the tenant and thus causing damage to it. It may be noticed, at this stage, that the first ground is common in both the cases whereas the second ground was mentioned only in the second matter where-in the tenant was Govordhan Nopany and another.

( 3 ) AS stated above, challenging the said notices, the writ applications were moved. The learned Trial Judge, by the impugned order, inter alia, held that the guidelines, purported to have been issued by the Central Government, on which reliance was placed by the writ petitioners, did have application to the cases in question and on the basis thereof the eviction proceedings initiated against the writ petitioners were liable to be withdrawn. The learned Trial Judge, on the basis of such view his, directed the present appellants not to proceed any further in the pending cases against the respondents.

( 4 ) VARIOUS questions of law have been raised before us, on behalf of the contesting parties, including the contentions on merits about the grounds of eviction, which were to be under adjudication before the Estate Officer. We were also addressed on the point that, in spite of limited powers of the writ Court, in view of the admitted factual position, the notices were rightly declared to be unenforceable as otherwise to allow the Estate Officer to proceed on the basis of such notices would be to allow a mala fide and/or arbitrary or colourable proceeding to continue.

( 5 ) THE appellants have contended, mainly, that all the questions, both of fact and law, canvassed before the learned Trial Judge, can well be raised for adjudication before the Estate Officer, in whom the Legislative Authority has vested the required jurisdiction and which, because of such vesting, can incontrovertibly be said to be an efficacious alternative forum. Secondly, it has further been argued that the memoranda in question, relied upon by the writ petitioners/respondents, being, at best administrative instructions, cannot legally nullify any statutory provision, even assuming such memoranda to have application.

( 6 ) ON behalf of the respondents, it has been emphasized that it can be presumed that the Estate Officer, while acting in terms of section 4 of the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971, had opportunity to look into all the relevant documents, including the replies given on behalf of the respondents, categorically denying the allegations of default in the payment of rent and if such documents had been taken into consideration there would not have been any occasion even for initiating such a proceeding. Secondly, it was argued, regarding the ground of alteration of the premises causing damage to the same, that the nature of alteration was such that even a man of reason would not have taken the same to be capable of causing any damage to the premises and attracting the ground of eviction. In the background of above, lastly, it has been contended on their behalf that the action of the Estate officer in ex-facie, arbitrary.

( 7 ) RELIANCE had been placed on behalf of both the sides an the decision in the case of Ashoka Marketing Ltd. v. Sahu Jain Services Ltd. and Another reported in AIR 1991 SC 855. For the view we propose to take we wish to deal with the maintainability of the proceeding initiated by the Estate officer first. Section 4 of the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised occupants) Act, 1971 vests the Estate officer with the authority to issue a notice up

Click Here to Read the rest of this document