High Court Of Calcutta
Bhaskar Bhattacharya, Rajendra Nath Sinha
AYAN CHATTERJEE - Appellant
Versus
FUTURE TECHNOLOGY FOUNDATION INC - Respondent
F. M. A. T. 1476 Of 2005
Decided On : 07/21/2005
LANDLORD TENANT - LEASE OR LICENSE - Agreement described as license but intended to create tenancy - Intention to be gathered from terms of agreement, surrounding circumstances, and conduct of parties - Camouflage or attempt to avoid rigors of legislation to be disregarded - Strong prima facie case of tenancy made out - Mandatory injunction granted to dispossess defendant No. 2 from suit property.
Fact of the Case:
Plaintiff, a corporation incorporated in the United States, filed a suit for declaration that it was a tenant under defendant No. 1 in respect of the suit property and for permanent injunction restraining the defendant Nos. 1 and 2, their servants and agents from interfering with the peaceful possession of the plaintiff in the suit property as also of its furniture, fixture and computer and other equipments kept therein in any manner whatsoever. The plaintiff prayed for further declaration that the defendant No. 2 had no right to operate the bank account of the plaintiff being current account No. 0029-136274-050 with the Gariahat branch of defendant No. 3. The plaintiff further prayed for mandatory injunction directing defendant No. 3 to allow the plaintiff and/or the individual authorised by the plaintiff to operate the said bank account.
Finding of the Court:
The Court found that the plaintiff had made out a strong prima facie case to have an order of injunction and the documents annexed by defendant No. 2 were all of doubtful nature. The Court further found that the original agreement was entered into between the plaintiff and defendant No. 1. The Court further came to the concision that the plaintiff was running business from the suit property as would appear from various documents filed by the plaintiff and accordingly, granted an order of status quo in the matter of running of the business from the suit property and in the matter of operating bank account as the same existed on the date of passing of the order.
Issues: Whether the agreement between the plaintiff and defendant No. 1 was a lease or a license.
Ratio Decidendi: The Court held that the agreement between the plaintiff and defendant No. 1 was a lease and not a license. The Court relied on the following factors to arrive at this conclusion: * The agreement was for a period of five years, which is a long period of time for a license. * The plaintiff was granted exclusive possession of the property. * The plaintiff was responsible for paying all of the expenses associated with the property, including rent, utilities, and maintenance. * The agreement was binding on the heirs and assigns of the parties, which is not typical of a license.
Final Decision: The Court dismissed the appeals filed by the defendant Nos. 1 and 2 and allowed the one filed by the plaintiff by modifying the order impugned to this extent that a Special Officer should be appointed to take possession of the property and the property will be remain in his possession till the disposal of the suit subject to the decisions of the suit.
( 1 ) ALL these three first miscellaneous appeals were taken up together as these are preferred against the self-same order being order dated 6th April, 2005 passed by the learned Civil Judge, Senior Division, 9th Court, Alipore in Title Suit No. 3 of 2005 thereby disposing of an application under Order 39 Rules 1 and 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure filed by the plaintiff by directing the parties to maintain status quo over the suit property with a finding that the plaintiff is in possession of the same and that the defendant no. 2 failed to prove that he was in possession of the property in his personal capacity.
( 2 ) F. M. A. T. No. 1335 of 2005 has been filed by defendant No. 2, F. M. A. T. No. 1345 of 2005 has been preferred by defendant No. 1 and the plaintiff has come up with a separate appeal being F. M. A. T. No. 1335 of 2005 against the said order.
( 3 ) THE plaintiff filed a suit in the 9th Court of Civil Judge, Senior Division, alipore being Title Suit No. 3 of 2005 thereby praying for declaration that the plaintiff was a tenant under defendant No. 1 in respect of the suit property and for permanent injunction restraining the defendant Nos. 1 and 2, their servants and agents from interfering with the peaceful possession of the plaintiff in the suit property as also of its furniture, fixture and computer and other equipments kept therein in any manner whatsoever. The plaintiff prayed for further declaration that the defendant No. 2 had no right to operate the bank account of the plaintiff being current account No. 0029-136274-050 with the Gariahat branch of defendant No. 3. The plaintiff further prayed for mandatory injunction directing defendant No. 3 to allow the plaintiff and/or the individual authorised by the plaintiff to operate the said bank account.
( 4 ) THE case made out by the plaintiff may be epitomised thus: (a) The plaintiff is a corporation incorporated under the appropriate law of the State of New Jersey, United States of America and is carrying on business of imparting Information Technology Education and Training and "contract staffing solutions" to their clients across the U. S. A. . (b) The plaintiff being interested in opening a branch in Kolkata for the purpose of its business duly applied to the Reserve Bank of India for such permission and appointed defendant No. 2 as the Chief Executive officer in relation to its affairs in India and granted him a power of attorney authorising to represent the plaintiff. (c) Ultimately, the Reserve Bank of India granted permission under the foreign Exchange Management (Establishment in India of a branch or office or other place of business) for establishing branch of its Office in india at Kolkata. (d) The defendant No. l is the owner of the premises No. P-87, Lake Road. After coming to learn that the said defendant was in search of a tenant for induction in the flat No. 4, on the first floor of the said premises, the plaintiff inspected such premises and found the same suitable for the purpose of locating its Kolkata Branch Office. (e) On discussions between the plaintiff and defendant No. l, it was agreed that defendant No. l would grant tenancy in favour of plaintiff in respect of the said flat for a period of five years with effect from 1st April, 2003 at a monthly rent of Rs. 12,000/- a month. (f) Subsequently, defendant No. 1 informed the plaintiff that he was advised that in formal document that would to be executed, the relation between the parties should be described as that of licensor and licensee and that the said document should reflect that such licence was granted for a period of less than one year with a renewal clause incorporated therein. (g) The defendant No. l, however, assured the plaintiff that the wrong description of the plaintiffs tenancy as a licence in the said agreement would not in any way affect its right as a tenant and he also undertook to enter into identical agreements year after year for five c
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