( 1 ) BY this petition under Art. 227 of Constitution of India, the tenant challenges an order of the appellate authority under the Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act, 1956, hereinafter called "the Act", by which it has reversed the order of the Competent Authority under the Act refusing permission to the landlady to initiate eviction proceedings against the tenant.

( 2 ) THE proceedings have had a somewhat chequered history. The dispute relates to a one room tenement being No. 429d; situated in Basti Nand Ram, Gali Barna Khurd Sadar Bazar, Delhi. On June 14, 1966, the landlady applied to the Competent Authority under the Act for permission to evict the tenant, inter alia, on the ground that the tenant had been in possession of alternative accommodation, being premises No. 4284, Gali Barna, Sadar Bazar, Delhi, in the same locality. The application was resisted by the tenant on the ground that the tenant was a man of meagre means and had not taken any alternative accommodation. It was contended that the premises in dispute had been taken and was being used as a residence while the order premises was a shop where the tenant was carrying on tailoring business. The c