A sub-tenant is entitled to apply for fixation of fair rent under the Kerala Buildings (Lease & Rent Control) Act, 1965, based on the statutory definitions of 'landlord' and 'tenant' establishing the tenurial nexus with the building.

Headnote:
Fair Rent - Sub-Tenant - The court held that a sub-tenant is entitled to apply for fixation of fair rent under the Kerala Buildings (Lease & Rent Control) Act, 1965. The statutory definition of 'landlord' and 'tenant' was crucial in establishing the tenurial nexus with the building, allowing the sub-tenant to seek determination of fair rent.
Fact of the Case:

The revision petitioner, a sub-tenant, applied for fixation of fair rent under the Kerala Buildings (Lease & Rent Control) Act, 1965. The Rent Control Court and the Appellate and the Revising Authorities initially held that the sub-tenant was not entitled to apply under the Act for fixation of fair rent.
Finding of the Court:

The court found that the statutory definition of 'landlord' and 'tenant' established the tenurial nexus with the building, allowing the sub-tenant to seek determination of fair rent. The court remanded the matter to the Rent Control Court to fix the fair rent, allowing the civil revision petition.
Issues: The main issue was whether a sub-tenant is entitled to apply for fixation of fair rent under the Kerala Buildings (Lease & Rent Control) Act, 1965.
Ratio Decidendi: The statutory definitions of 'landlord' and 'tenant' were crucial in establishing the tenurial nexus with the building, allowing the sub-tenant to seek determination of fair rent.
Final Decision: The court allowed the civil revision petition, remanding the matter to the Rent Control Court to fix the fair rent. The parties were directed to bear their respective costs.

Judgement Key Points

The criteria for fixing fair rent under the Kerala Buildings (Lease & Rent Control) Act, as derived from the provided legal document, include the following:

Tenurial Nexus with the Building: The applicant must establish a connection or interest in the building, which can be as a tenant or sub-tenant. The statutory definitions of 'landlord' and 'tenant' are crucial in determining this relationship and the applicant's entitlement to seek fixation of fair rent (!) .
Interest in the Building: The applicant's relationship must involve a right or interest that involves the obligation to pay rent for the building. Even a sub-tenant, who has a recognized relationship of tenancy, can apply for fixation of fair rent if this nexus is established (!) .
Nature of the Interest: The fair rent is an attribute of the building itself, not dependent on the financial ability or social status of the occupant. It is determined based on the characteristics of the building, such as age, condition, character, and location, rather than the occupant’s personal circumstances (!) (!) .
Application by Interested Parties: Any person who has a tenurial interest in the building, including sub-tenants, is entitled to apply for fixation of fair rent, provided the relationship with the building is established through the statutory definitions (!) .
Scope of Fair Rent: The fair rent fixed is for the building itself, and it is payable by whoever has a tenurial relationship with the building, whether as a contractual tenant or a statutory tenant. The determination of rent is a matter of the building's characteristics and not the occupant's financial status (!) (!) .

In summary, the key criteria involve establishing a tenurial relationship with the building, focusing on the nature of the interest, and basing the fair rent on the building's attributes rather than the occupant's personal financial capacity.

Judgment :-

1. This civil revision petition relates to an application under S. S of the Kerala Buildings (Lease & Rent Control) Act, 1965 ("the Act"). The Rent Control Court as well as the Appellate and the Revising Authorities held that the revision petitioner being a sub-tenant was not entitled to apply under S.5 of the Act for fixation of fair rent.

2. Under S.S, the Rent Control Court may, on the application of either the landlord or the tenant, fix the fair rent for a building. A landlord is defined in sub-section (3) of S.2 of the Act as follows:

"'Landlord' includes the person who is receiving or is entitled to receive the rent of a building, whether on bis own account or on behalf of another or on behalf of himself and others or as an agent, trustee, executor, administrator, receiver or guardian or who would so receive the rent or be entitled to receive the rent, if the building were let to a tenant.

Explanation: A tenant who sub-lets shall be deemed to be a landlord within the meaning of this Act in relation to the sub-tenant"

The statutory definition of "landlord" shows that any person who is entitled to receive the rent of a building is a landlord. The Explanation to the subsection shows that even a tenant who sublets is deemed to be a landlord of the sub-tenant, thereby implying that the latter in relation to the former is a tenant under the Act. This is the inevitable corollary of the Explanation.

3. A 'tenant' is defined as follows in sub-section (6) of S.2:

"'tenant' means any person by whom or on whose account rent is payable for a building and includes -

(i) the heir or heirs of a deceased tenant, and

(ii) a person continuing in possession after the termination of the tenancy in his favour, but does not include a Kudikidappukaran as defined in the Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963 (Kerala Act 1 of 1964), or a person placed in occupation of a building by its tenant, or a person to whom the collection of rents or fees in a public market, cart stand or slaughter house or of rents for shops has been farmed out or leased by a Municipal Council, Municipal Corporation, Township Committee or Panchayat;"

The definition of 'tenant' shows that any person who is obliged to give rent for a building is a tenant. However a person who is placed in occupation of a building by its tenant is not a tenant unless, as indicated in the Explanation to sub-section (3) of S.2, a sub-tenancy can be imputed in the relationship between the two. If this relationship partakes the character of tenancy in the sense that the transferee derives an interest in the building (as opposed to mere personal privilege for the user of the building) and he is obliged to pay rent therefor to the transferor who is the tenant and who in terms of the Explanation to sub-section (3) is a landlord in relation to the transferee, the transferee as a sub-tenant is deemed to be a tenant within the meaning of the Act.

4. In the present case the 1st respondent himself is a tenant of the 2nd respondent. But he is also the landlord of the revision petitioner for he granted a lease in favour of the latter. It is therefore clear that between the 1st respondent and the revision petitioner there is a relationship of landlord and tenant in respect of the building.

5. It is in respect of the building that a fair rent is determined under S.5 of the Act, and dehors the occupant. It is an incident of the tenure regarding the building. As stated by the Supreme Court in M/s. Raval and Co. v. K. G. Ramachandran (AIR. 1974 SC. 818),

"A close reading of the Act shows that the fair rent is fixed for the building and it is payable by whoever is the tenant, whether a contractual tenant or statutory tenant. What is fixed is not the fair rent payable by the tenant or to the landlord who applies for fixation of fair rent but fair rent for the building, something like an incident of the tenure regarding the building."

Fair rent is an attribute of the building. It is the rent that can reasonably and fairly

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Judicial Analysis