A landlord must plead all material facts which would entitle him/her to obtain an order for eviction, including ownership of the premises, the residential purpose of the letting, bonafide requirement for occupation as a residence for himself/herself and family members dependent on him/her, and the absence of other reasonably suitable accommodation.

( 1 ) NO. 25/23 Old Rajinder Nagar, New Delhi consisting of one room, store with common use of Verandah, bath, latrine and open courtyard, to the respondent Sobha Ram on a monthly rent of Rs. 100. 00 on 7. 11. 74. On 8. 11. 79 she brought a petition for his eviction from the said premises u/s 14 (l) (e) of the Delhi Rent Control Act (the Act ).

( 2 ) THE tenant defended the claim on a variety of contentions. These are (i) the petition did not disclose a cause of action for want of plea that the landlady had no other reasonably suitable accommodation, (ii) the letting purpose was residential cum-commercial and (iii) the landlady required accommodation for herself and her daughter only, the accommodation with her was reasonably suitable. The petition had been filed because the tenant had filed a suit for recovery of Rs. 10,000. 00 which he had advanced to the landlady on the day of letting and had obtained a decree. She had even withheld the rent deed executed at the time of letting. Her requirement was not bonafide.

( 3 ) THOSE pleas found favour with the ARC. He consequently dismissed the eviction petition on May 5, 1984. Feeling aggrieved the landlady has brought this revision u/s 25b (8) of the Act.

( 4 ) THE function of pleadings is to ascertain with precision the matters on which the parties differ. A respondent, in an eviction petition, is entitled to know what it is that the petitioner-landlord alleges against him. The petitioner in his turn is entitled to know the defence pleas raised in answer to his claim. The main purpose is to prevent surprise at the trial. A material fact which has not been pleaded, cannot be allowed to be proved during the trial. Therefore, all material facts which would entitle the landlord to obtain an order for eviction must be pleaded. In other words in a petition for eviction on the ground of bonafide requirement the landlord must plead (i) that he was the owner of the premises; (ii) that the same had been let out for the residential purpose; (iii) that he bonafide required the premises for occupation as a residence for himself and members of his family dependent on him; and (iv) that he had no other reasonably suitable accommodation. It was so held by this court in Abdul Hamid vs. Nw Mohammad, AIR 1976 Delhi 328. Similar view was taken in Hari Mohan vs. Rameshwar Dayal, AIR 1980 Delhi 291, Dr. (Mrs.) N. D. Khanna vs. Mfs. Hindustan Industrial Corporation, AIR 1981 Delhi 305, and Mr. Edwin Bruce vs. Hari Chand 1982 (1) R. C. R. 172.

( 5 ) IN the present case the ground on which the eviction of the tenant was sought has been pleaded in the following words :

"that the premises are residential one were let for residential purposes to the respondent and is required bonafide by the petitioner for use and occupation as residence for herself and members of her family dependent on her and that she does not have adequate accommodation in her possession. She has one small room in her occupation. She has a daughter and a nephew dependent on her for accommodation. Petitioner is the owner of the premises. "

( 6 ) THE three necessary ingredients, namely, that the landlady was the owner of the premises (ii) that the same had been let out residential purpose and (iii) that she required the same for use and occupation as residence for herself and members of her family, have admittedly been pleaded. The contention of Mr. Vohra, learned counsel for the tenant, is that the fourth essential ingredient that the landlady had no other reasonably suitable accommodation is missing. I do not agree. The landlady in the grounds reproduced above, has specifically averred that she had only one small room in her occupation and had no adequate accommodation in her possession. "adequate" means sufficient. Thus it had been pleaded that the landlady had only one room which accommodation was not sufficient. These pleadings, in my view, meet the requirement of pleading the material facts, at least in substance. The tenant