Point of Law: Section 12 proceedings under Act can be invoked against tenant, only when arrears of rent is admitted.

ORDER :

Sophy Thomas, J.

In this revision, we are called upon to answer an interesting question as to whether the arrears of admitted rent decreed by a civil court, in a suit filed by the landlord, is liable to be excluded while computing the admitted arrears of rent under Section 12(1) of the Kerala Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1965 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’).

2. The revision petitioner/tenant is impugning the judgment of the Rent Control Appellate Authority in RCA No.42 of 2018, invoking revisional jurisdiction of this Court, under Section 20 of the Act.

3. Brief facts necessary for the revision are as follows, referring the parties according to their status in RCP No.18 of 2016

The petitioner/landlord filed RCP No.18 of 2016 before the Rent Control Court, Chalakudy, in order to evict the respondent/tenant from the tenanted premises, under Sections 11(2)(b), 11(3) and 11(4)(ii) of the Act. The respondent remained ex parte, and based on the affidavit and documents produced by the petitioner, the Rent Control Court allowed the RCP under Section 11(3) of the Act, and directed the respondent to surrender vacant possession of the tenanted premises within one month. Thereafter the respondent filed petition to set aside the ex parte order but it was dismissed. Thereupon the respondent preferred RCA No.42 of 2018 with a prayer to stay the execution proceedings. Stay was granted by the Rent Control Appellate Authority on deposit of Rs.87,500/- towards arrears of rent. In the RCA, the landlord filed I.A No.2 of 2022 under Section 12(1) of the Act, for directing the tenant to deposit the arrears of rent. That petition was allowed on 15.06.2022, directing the tenant to deposit the admitted arrears of rent @ Rs.2,500/- per month from May, 2015 till May, 2022 by 14.07.2022 and to continue payment of admitted rent till the disposal of the appeal. Since the respondent/tenant did not comply with that direction, a show cause notice was issued against him. Since he failed to deposit the amount or to show cause for the non-remittance, the Rent Control Appellate Authority stopped further proceedings in the appeal, and the respondent/tenant was directed to put the landlord in possession of the tenanted premises under Section 12(3) of the Act, and that is the order impugned in this revision.

4. According to the tenant, he deposited Rs.64,000/- before the Rent Control Appellate Authority on 01.07.2022 as the entire arrears of admitted rent and no further arrears were due from him. He drew our attention to O.S No.355 of 2018 filed by the landlord, claiming arrears of rent for the period May, 2015 till May, 2018, and Annexure A8 judgment in that suit. According to him, the arrears of rent decreed by the civil court after adjudicating the issue, cannot be treated as admitted arrears of rent envisaged under Section 12(1) of the Act. If the decretal amount is excluded, there will not be any balance to be paid towards arrears of rent ordered in I.A No.2 of 2022.

5. Heard learned counsel Sri.Shibin K.F, appearing for the tenant and learned counsel Sri.Jithin Babu A, appearing for the landlord.

6. For answering the question involved in this revision, we have to find out what was the admitted rent and what was the period of default.

7. The word ‘rent’ or ‘admitted arrears of rent’ are not defined in the Act. Obviously, Section 12 proceedings under the Act can be invoked against the tenant, only when the arrears of rent is admitted. The admission regarding the rent of the tenanted premises may be direct or indirect, express or implied, and it need not necessarily be an admission in the rent control proceedings itself. There cannot be any insistence that the quantum of admitted arrears of rent should come from the tenant himself by express words in his counter statement in the Rent Control Petition or in the objection to the application filed by the landlord under Section 12 of the Act. It could be inferred from any document containing admission