A landlord's genuine and planned need for a separate residence, even before the occurrence of events such as marriage, can justify eviction under S.11(3) of the Act.

1. Joseph Chakola owned many buildings in Ernakulam, including the one involved in this case. It has three rooms, besides bathroom and latrine; and had been occupied for some time as a residential building. The revision petitioner-co-operative society took one of the rooms on lease in 1964. Years later, Joseph Chakola passed away. Soon thereafter, the building passed hands. It was purchased in 1978 by the respondent herein, referred to by the Rent Controller as "a young man of 31 decently employed". The new landlord intended to get married and "to have separate residence of his own with his wife". The occupants of two rooms appreciated the need; they surrendered the rooms to the landlord. The Society did not, however, yield. The landlord then terminated the tenancy and demanded surrender of the building. The demand went unheeded to. That led to the eviction proceedings

2. Many contentions originally raised are now submerged by the concurrent decisions of the courts below. Only one remains for adjudication by the High Court. That relates to the question: Does the decision of a young man of thirty one, to marry soon and to move to a new establishment, constitute a bona fide need justifying eviction of a tenanted building belonging to him, on a proper interpretation of S.11(3) of the Kerala Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1965?

3. The landlord did not have any other building of his own. His mother did own one building, where she lived with her daughter and the son, the landlord herein.

4. The insistence of the landlord to have a separate roof of his own before the solemnisation of his marriage, later lost its rigidity. He was perhaps aware of the possible protraction of the eviction proceedings. In the course of the proceedings before the appellate authority, he got married. A further question whether an event which occurred subsequent to the filing of the rent control petition could be reckoned, for giving relief, was adverted to by the revisional authority though omitted to be noted by the appellate authority. It was, however, felt that eviction could be ordered, even viewing things from the facts as they obtained at the time of the rent control petition.

5. S.11(3) of the Act is the provision relied on by the landlord. That enables him to obtain possession of the building "if he bona fide needs the building for his own occupation".

6. All the authorities have concurred to hold that the need put forward by the landlord was genuine, and that he had not been motivated by any oblique objective, such as exacting an augmented rent. It was also found that the building is a residential one and capable of being used as such, despite the Society having used the one room occupied by it for commercial purposes.

7. The crux of the surviving contention is that as on the date of the filing of the petition he was only a bachelor. He had, therefore, no need on that day for a residential building with three rooms. His residential requirements were more than met by his stay with his mother and sister in a building owned by the mother. This contention, as noted earlier, met with disapproval all through. Counsel persisted in arguing that notwithstanding the view so expressed by the three subordinate authorities, the requirements of the section are not satisfied, if the need is absent on the date of the filing of the petition. How can a bachelor maintain a petition on a prospect based on a need for a matrimonial home, when marriage had not even been arranged or settled and remained only a sweet dream in his mind? queried counsel.

8. I am clearly of the view that the decision reached by the authorities below is the correct one. No person, even when he is a landlord, could be found fault with for ordaining his affairs in a proper or planned manner. Planning is, in a sense, a part of regulated modern life. Planning has been accepted as a necessary pattern of functioning for the Nation. Enlightened persons plan their future in accordance w