A.M. Bhattacharjee, J. –– A landlord, himself residing in a rented premises, has filed two suits against two of his tenants for the recovery of possession of the two premises occupied by them, each tenant occupying one floor of the three-storied premises owned by the landlord. The case of the landlord is that he reasonably requires both the premises for his own occupation and the occupation of the members of his household and that the rented premises occupied by him is both insufficient and unsuitable for his requirement. Both the Courts below having concurrently held in favour of the landlord and having decreed both the suits on such finding, the tenants-defendants have preferred these two second appeals, which have been heard together and are now being disposed of by this judgement.

2. As we have pointed out in some earlier cases, including that of A.K. Mukherji v. Prodip Ranjan Sarbodhikary (1987-2 Calcutta Law Journal 229 at 234), while the purpose of requirement by the landlord may involve a question of law, the extent of his requirement would, by and large, be a question of fact. Under s. 13(I)(ff) of the West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act, if a landlord is the owner of