A lease for both manufacturing and business purposes does not require a six-month notice for termination under section 106 of the Transfer of Property Act, and a tenant who fails to deposit rent that has become time-barred at the date of the suit loses the statutory protection under section 12(3)(b) of the Bombay Rents, Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act, 1947.

JUDGMENT :

J.M. Sheth, J.

This revision petition is filed by the original defendant- tenant against the plaintiff-opponent-landlady against the judgment and decree passed by the learned 4th Extra Assistant Judge, Baroda, in Civil Appeal No. 368 of 1971, confirming the decree passed by the trial Court (Court of Civil Judge, Junior Division, Savli) for eviction in Regular Civil Suit No. 158 of 1970.

2. In this revision petition we are concerned only with the points : about the legality and validity of the suit notice, Ex. 26, dated 25.12.1967, and whether the Court below was justified in reaching the conclusion that the petitioner-tenant has lost the statutory protection under section 12(3)(b) of the Bombay Rents Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act, 1947 (which will be hereinafter referred to as "the Act") as admittedly the tenant did not pay the rent for the period between 10.11.1963 and the rent that had become due thereafter and had become time-barred on the date of the suit.

3. The appellate Court has reached the conclusion that no notice as required under section 106 of the Transfer of Property Act was necessary in the instant case as the petitioner-tenant had become a statutory tenant. According to the learned Extra Assistant Judge, taking any view of the matter, where the lease was for a period of one year as stated by the landlady or it was for a period of 20 years as claimed by the tenant, there having been no registered document which could be necessary, after the period of one year, i.e. after the efflux of period, there would be statutory tenancy. He has further reached the conclusion that even taking that house-site land in question was leased to the petitioner for the purpose of running a Ghani (this Ghani is run with the help of bullocks for extracting oil from Til or groundnuts and also for the purpose of business. It was, therefore, evident that it was not for exclusive purpose of running a Ghani which can be said to be a manufacturing purpose. He was for two purposes. The case would, therefore, fall, according to the learned Extra Assistant Judge, in the category of cases contemplated under section 106 of the Transfer of Property Act where a lease of immovable property is for any other purpose. This conclusion was reached by him on the basis that the lease was not for manufacturing purpose only. That being the position, the presumption that will arise under section 106 of the Transfer of Property Act will be, that such a lease for immovable property for any other purpose shall be terminable on the part of either lessor or lessee, by fifteen days' notice expiring with the end of a month of the tenancy. Admittedly, such notice has been given and consequently the notice Exh. 26 is a legal and valid notice.

4. Mr. S.B. Majmudar, appearing for the petitioner, has vehemently contended that in the instant case this lease was taken for the purpose of running a Ghani which would be a lease for manufacturing purpose. It was only incidentally that the product manufactured, viz. oil manufactured from oil seeds, was to be sold in the suit premises. Mr. Majmudar submitted that the main purpose of the lease was the manufacturing purpose, viz., running of a Chani. That was the dominant purpose. Consequently, such a lease should be held to be a lease for manufacturing purpose and it would require six months' notice for terminating the contractual tenancy.

5. In support of his submission, Mr. Majmudar has relied upon the decision of the Supreme Court in Allenbury Engineer Pvt. Ltd. v. Shri Ram Krishna Dalmia, AIR 1973 Supreme Court 425 At page 427, in para 7, it is observed :

"The expression 'manufacturing purpose' in section 106 is used in its popular and dictionary meaning, the Transfer of Property Act not having supplied any dictionary of its own for that expression. The burden of proving that the lease was for manufacturing purpose, must, for the purpose of section 106 of the Transfer of Property Act, lie on the party who cla