PRADEEP NANDRAJOG, J.

1. As the owner of 2955 square feet built up area on the ground and mezzanine floor forming part of property bearing No.82, Janpath, on October 01, 2008 Late Ms. Shakuntala Gupta (the mother of the respondents) executed a lease-deed in respect of the property. The lessee was the Bank of Rajasthan, authorized representative whereof was the cosignatory to the lease-deed. The lease-deed was duly registered and the duration of the lease was 15 years with rent to be increased every 5 years by 20%. Being relevant to deal with the arguments advanced by the learned Senior Counsel for the appellant and its rebuttal thereto by the learned counsel for the respondents, we need to note the description of the parties to the lease-deed and clauses 3, 10 and 26 thereof. They read as under:-

LEASE DEED

This indenture of lease is made at New Delhi on this 1st day of October, 2008.

BY AND BETWEEN

Mrs. Shakuntala Gupta, W/o Mr.Mahendra Kumar Gupta and R/o Shanti Niwas, 6, Under Hill Road, Civil Lines, Delhi – 110054 acting through her husband and duly constituted attorney namely, Mr.Mahender Kumar Gupta, S/o Late Shri Matu Ram, R/o Shanti Niwas, 6, Under Hill Road, Civil Lines, Delhi – 110054 vide registered General Power of Attorney dated 18.09.2008, bearing Registration No.4525 in Additional Book No.4, Volume No.2548 on Pages 138 to 141, registered on 18.09.2008 with the office of the concerned Sub-Registrar-I, Kashmere Gate, Delhi (hereinafter called the first party or the party of the first part, ‘LESSOR’) (which expression shall unless it be repugnant to the context of meaning thereof, be deemed to mean and include her legal heirs, executors, administrators, legal representatives, successors and assignees) of the First Part

AND

The Bank of Rajasthan Limited, Central Office Jaipur, being a banking company under Section 5(c) of the Banking Companies Regulation Act, having its registered office at Clock Tower, Udaipur, Rajasthan (hereinafter called the second party or the party of the second part, ‘LESSEE’) (which expression shall unless it be repugnant to the context of meaning thereof, be deemed to mean and include its successors and permitted assigns) through its Attorney, Mr. Harchand Hirwani, Senior Manager, The Bank of Rajasthan Ltd., 82, Janpath, New Delhi of the Other Part.

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3. That this lease cannot be terminated by the Lessor before the end of the specified lease period of fifteen years expiring on 31.05.2023 in whatsoever manner. After expiry of 15 years, i.e. 31.05.2023 both the parties may agree to extend/renew the lease on mutually agreed terms. The lessee will have the option to cancel the remaining portion of the lease only by serving three month‘s notice upon the lessors or upon payment of rent equal of said three month‘s period to the lessors.

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10. The Lessee shall not sublet, assign, transfer or part with in favour of anyone either in part or whole, of the Demised Premises, without the prior consent of the Lessor in writing.

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26. In the event of non-payment of the dues by the lessee strictly as per the agreed time schedule, the lessor shall also have the right to recover the due amounts through a Court of law at the risk and cost of the lessee which would be in addition to the lessor’s right of termination and recovery of possession forthwith and damages from the lessee.

2. Late Smt.Shakuntala Gupta filed CS (OS) No.874/2011 pleading therein that the Bank of Rajasthan Ltd. had sublet, assigned and parted with the possession of the leased premises to ICICI Bank Ltd. It was pleaded that Bank of Rajasthan had stopped paying rent since January, 2011. She pleaded that she did not receive the rent tendered by ICICI Bank Ltd. because said bank had no relationship with her. She pleaded that by a notice dated February 01, 2011 she called upon the Bank of Rajasthan Ltd. and ICICI Bank Ltd. to vacate the tenanted premises and since there was a failure to vacate the tenanted premises she was cons