Gujarat High Court
Judgename :P.N.BHAGWATI
GULABCHAND ZAVERCHAND MEHTA - Appellant
Versus
PATEL KURJI BHAGWANJI KALARIA - Respondent
SECOND APPEAL 587 of 196
Decided On : 10/11/1961
Transfer of Property Act - Section 106 - Statements embodied - Rule of construction - Argument court opinion fallacious for reasons which court will immediately state Before however court do so court must refer to well-known rule of construction that a notice to quit though it may not be strictly accurate or consistent in statements embodied in it may still be good and effective in law the test of sufficiency would be satisfied if notice to quit conveys to tenant that his tenancy would be determined at a certain and definite time expiring with month of tenancy and Court Must construe notice to quit not with a view to finding faults which would render it defective but must construe - Held, mind court must determine question whether the notice to quit given by the plaintiff to the defendant in the present case was so vague and uncertain as regards time when tenancy was sought to be terminated that it could be said that notice to quit did not expire month of enhance - Question is solely one of interpretation - What upon fair and reasonable construction did notice to quit mean and convey defendant - Did notice to quit leave defendant in any doubt as when the tenancy was sought to be terminated plaintiff Could it be said on a fair and reasonable construction notice to quit that it sought to terminate tenancy defendant on three alternative - Or did notice to quit terminate tenancy of defendant November at own choosing - Appeal dismissed.
( 1 ) THIS Second Appeal raises a short question regarding the validity of the notice to quit given by the plaintiff to the defendant. It is an admitted fact that the tenancy of the defendant was from month to month according to the English calendar month. The plaintiff gave to the defendant a notice dated 7th October 1959 calling upon him to quit the premises which were in his possession as a tenant of the plaintiff. The material portion of the notice was when translated in the following terms:whereupon by this notice you are finally informed:- On receipt of this notice on 30-11-59 (being) the end of the month of your tenancy or if you want to consider (the month of tenancy) according to your rent note then (in) the month expiring on 15-11-1959 or on that day on which you consider the month of tenancy ends you will vacate the aforesaid premises which you hold as my clients tenant and hand over its possession to my client.
( 2 ) THE defendant failed to hand over possession of the premises to the plaintiff and the plaintiff therefore filed a suit against the defendant on 8 April 1960 to-recover possession of the premises from the defendant. The ground on which possession of the premises was sought by the plaintiff was that he required the premises bona fide and reasonably for his own use and occupation. Various contentions were raised by the defendant in his written statement one of which was that the notice to quit given by the plaintiff to the defendant was not a valid notice. The learned trial Judge after hearing the parties came to the conclusion that the notice to quit was a valid notice which effectively terminated the tenancy of the defendant and that the premises were bona fide and reasonably required by the plaintiff for his own use and occupation but that greater hardship would be caused to the defendant by passing a decree for possession of the entire premises than what would be caused to the plaintiff by refusing to pass a decree. The learned trial Judge was however satisfied that no hardship would be caused either to the plaintiff or to the defendant by passing a decree in respect of one half of the premises. The learned trial Judge accordingly passed a decree awarding possession of one half of the premises to the plaintiff. It appears that both the plaintiff and defendant were aggrieved by the decree passed by the learned trial Judge and they therefore filed appeals against the same The appeals were disposed of by the learned Assistant Judge Gondal who agreeing with the learned trial Judge dismissed both the appeals. The defendant thereupon filed the present second Appeal in this Court and the plaintiff filed Cross-objections in the present appeal.
( 3 ) THE only contention urged by Mr. S M. Shah learned advocate appearing on behalf of the defendant was as regards the validity of the notice to quit given by the plaintiff to the defendant. Mr. S. M. Shah contended that the notice to quit did not put an end to the relationship of landlord and tenant at a certain and definite time which expired with the month of the tenancy but sought to terminate the tenancy of the defendant on three alternative dates. This argued Mr. S. M. Shah vitiated the notice to quit and the notice to quit did not therefore. have the effect of terminating the tenancy of the defendant. Now Mr. S. M. Shah is right in his contention that though no particular form of words is necessary the notice to quit must determine the existing tenancy at a certain time. It is well-established that a notice to quit being a unilaterat act in exercise of a contractual right to put an end to an existing relation of landlord and tenant must conform strictly to the requirements of law. A notice to quit is as observed by Lord Greene M. R. in Hankey v. Clavering (1942) 2 All E. R. 311 a document of a technical nature technical for this reason that if it is in a proper form it has of its own force without any assent by the recipient the effect of bri
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