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1951 Supreme(Raj) 76

High Court Of Rajasthan
Judgename : Ranawat,Sharma
MADHUSUDHAN - Appellant
Versus
SHYAM DASS - Respondent
Civil Revn. Appln. 145 Of 1950
Decided On : 07/16/1951

Advocates Appeared:
Sadhu Narain Saxena

The court has the power of superintendence under Article 227 of the Constitution of India to set aside orders and direct the exercise of jurisdiction in accordance with the provisions of law.

Headnote:

Rent Control - Standard Rent - The court exercised its power of superintendence under Article 227 of the Constitution of India to set aside the order of the Collector and direct the fixation of standard rent of the premises in accordance with the provisions of the second schedule to the Rent Control Act.

Fact of the Case:

The premises were let by Pandit Madhusudan to Shyamdas on a rent of Rs. 35/- per month. The Rent Controller fixed the rent at Rs. 10/- per month, and the Collector increased it to Rs. 12/- including charges for light. The landlord filed a revision, objecting to the illegal exercise of jurisdiction by the Rent Controller and the Collector.

Finding of the Court:

The court exercised its power of superintendence under Article 227 and set aside the order of the Collector, directing the fixation of standard rent in accordance with the provisions of the second schedule to the Rent Control Act.

Issues: 1. Whether the Rent Controller and the Collector acted illegally in determining the standard rent not in accordance with Schedule II of the Rent Control order. 2. Whether the inclusion of electric charges in the standard rent was appropriate when the matter had become res judicata.

Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the Rent Controller and the Collector ignored the provisions of Section 6(2) and the second schedule of the Rent Control Order, committing an illegality in the exercise of their jurisdiction. The court's duty to interfere and issue a proper direction to exercise jurisdiction in accordance with the provisions of law was emphasized.

Final Decision: The application was allowed, and the order of the Collector was set aside, directing the fixation of standard rent of the premises after considering the provisions of the second schedule to the Rent Control Act.

Judgment

RANAWAT, J.

( 1 ) THIS is an application under Article 227 of the Constitution of India.

( 2 ) CERTAIN premises were let by Pandit Madhusudan to Shyamdas on a rent of rs. 35/- per month and the tenant thinking that the rent was too high filed an application in the Court of the Rent Controller on the 3rd of May 1949 for fixation of standard rent, and after taking proceedings in this case the Rent controller on the 24th of January 1950 fixed the rent of the premises at Rs. 10/- per month exclusive of light and water. Both parties Went in appeal to the court of the Collector, Jaipur, who, on the 27th of April 1950, increased the vent to Rs. 12/- but included therein the charges for light. Pt. Madhusudhan who is the landlord has now come before this Court in revision and he has raised three objections: (1) That the Rent Controller did not frame any issues before deciding the case. (2) That the Rent Controller and the Collector both acted illegally in the exercise of their jurisdiction in determining the standard rent of the premises not in accordance with Schedule II of the Rent Control order and in fixing the standard rent to Rs. 2/- under Section 6 (2) of the Rent control Order. (3) That the Controller was wrong in including the electric charges in the standard rent when the question of the electric and water charges had been separately decided by him and the matter had become res judicata.

( 3 ) THE petitioner at the time of the hearing of this case waived the first point and we need not deal with it here.

( 4 ) ARTICLE 227 of the Constitution of India lays down that every High Court shall have superintendence over all Courts and tribunals throughout the territories in relation to which it exercises jurisdiction. Under the corresponding Section 107 of the Government of India Act, 1915, "superintendence" was interpreted to include judicial as well as administrative superintendence vide sholapur municipality v. Tulji Ram, AIR (13) 1931 Bom 582, emperor v. Jamnadas, AIR (24) 1937 Bom 153.

( 5 ) UNDER Section 224 of the Government of India Act, 1935, the power of superintendence was expressly barred in judicial matters by adding Sub-section (2) to section 224, which ran as follows:

"nothing in this section shall be construed as giving to a High Court any jurisdiction to question any judgment of any inferior Court which is not otherwise subject to appeal or revision. "

But under Article 227 of the Constitution of India the same position which obtained under the Government of India Act, 1915, has been revived. The powers of revision under Article 227 can be invoked in case of grave dereliction of duty for which no other remedy is available and which will have [serious consequences if not remedied. The counsel on the opposite side has conceded that this Court has got powers of Superintendence over the Court of the Collector in the matter of fixing the standard rent of the premises under the Rent Control Act in cases where jurisdiction is exceeded. Section 6 (2) of the Bent Control Order runs as follows:

" (2) Where for any reason it is not possible to determine the standard rent of any premises on the principles set forth in the second schedule, the Controller may, on the application of any person interested, or on his own motion, determine the standard rent, and in so doing shall have regard to the standard rents of similar premises in the same locality and other relevant considerations. "

( 6 ) IT may be pointed out that the Rent Controller can fix standard rent of the premises under Section 6 (2) only when for any reason it is not possible for him to fix the standard rent of the premises in accordance with the second schedule of the Act. In the present case, both the Rent Controller and the Collector considered the application of second schedule unfair to the tenant because the basic rent perhaps worked out to be higher than the rent of similar premises in the same locality. Both the parties pleaded the existence of data



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