1952 Supreme(Raj) 256
Rajasthan High Court
Wanchoo C.J. & Bapna, J.
Atma Ram - Appellant
Versus
Madanlal Rathi - Respondents
D.B. Misc. Writ No. 90 of 1951
Decided On : October 27, 1952
Chandmal, for Petitioner; Kan Singh, Assistant Govt. Advocate; B.B. Desai, for Opposite party
Headnote:General Clauses Act, sec. 5(2)—Act made by Rajpramukh before coming into existence of legislature—Where no date of coming into force specified it comes into force when made-Constitution of India, Art. 385.Rajasthan Premises (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act 1950 secs. 2 & 30—No law for rent control between 28th November 1950 and 16th February 1951 in Nathdwara—Application filed during this period ineffectuous.
The functions of the legislature and the President who gives assent to laws passed by the legislature were vested in the same person in Rajasthan, namely. His Highness the Rajpramukh. Consequently a Rajasthan Act made at a time when Article 385 of the Constitution was applicable (during the period when there was no legislature in Rajasthan, after the coming into force of the Constitution of India) would come into force when it received the assent of the Rajpramukh if it does not express any particular date on which it is to come into operation. Thus Rajasthan Premises Control of Rent and Eviction Act of 1950 must be deemed to have come into force on 28th November 1950, when it was made.
A took a shop (in Nathdwara) on lease from S. made an application under the former United State of Rajasthan Buildings (lease and rent control) Ordinance of 1948, before the Rent Controller,Udaipur on 9th December 1950. That application was decided on the 28th September 1951 by which date the Rajasthan Premises (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act of 1950, had come into force.
It was held that the Rajasthan Premises (Control of Rent and Eviction Act) which came into force on 28th November 1950 repealed the Ordinance of the former Rajasthan State and as the Rajasthan Premises (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act 1950 was applied to Nathdwara on 16th February 1951, there was no law far Control of Rent and Eviction in Nathdwara between 28th November 1950 (when the former United State of Rajasthan Buildings Lease and Rent Control Ordinance was repealed and the 16th February 1951 (when the Rajasthan Act was applied to Nathdwara). Consequently the Rent Controller had no jurisdiction whatsoever to decide this application, which was filed after the former Rajasthan Act had been repealed.
2 The case of the applicant is that he took a shop on lease from Shamlal who has also been made a party to this application. Shyamlal made an application under the (former) United State of Rajasthan Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Ordinance No. XXII of 1948 before the Rent Controller, Udaipur, on 9th of December, 1950. That application was decided on the 28th September, 1951, by which date the Rajasthan Premises Control of Rent and Eviction Act (No. XVII of 1950 had come into force. The applicant filed an appeal before the Commissioner, as provided in the (former) United State of Rajasthan Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Ordinance (No. XXII) of 1948. He also took the precaution of filing an appeal before the District Magistrate under sec. 22 of Act XVII of 1950. The appeal before the Commissioner was heard by the Additional Commissioner who, however, held that he had no jurisdiction to hear the appeal and returned it for presentation to proper authority on the 10th December, 1951.. The appeal, which was pending before the District Magistrate, was not decided upto the 21st December, 1951, when the present application was made in this Court. It was decided later and the District Magistrate held that he had no jurisdiction to hear the appeal. The applicants contention is that the (former) United State, of Rajasthan Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Ordinance (No. XXII) of 1948. gave him the substantive right of appeal against the order of the Rent Controller. That right could not be, and has not been, taken away by the Rajasthan Act No. XVII of 1950, and therefore his appeal should be heard by some authority, and he should not be told, both by the Commissioner who was the authority under the (former) United State of Rajasthan Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Ordinance (No. XXII) of 1948, and by the District Magistrate who is now the Appellate Authority under the Rajasthan Premises Control of Rent and Eviction Act (No. XVII) of 1950, that neither of them can hear the appeal.
3. Before we decide the question as to which is the proper forum for hearing the appeal in this case, we have to decide which law7 was in force on the 9th December, 1950, when Shyamlal made his application before the Rent Controller. It is contended that the law in force was Ordinance No. XXII of 1948, and not Act XVII of 1950. The Assistant Government Aadvocate however contends that Act XVII of 1950 had come into force on the 28th of November, 1950. Sec. 2 of that Act provides that certain sections shall come into force at once, while others shall come into force with effect from such date as may, from time to time, be notified by the Government in the Rajasthan Gazette. Sec. 30 is one of the sections which is provided as coming into force at once. The other provisions of the Act, which were to come into force on Notification by the Government, were in this particular case notified on the 16th February, 1951, to apply to the town of Nathdwara from which this case comes. Section 30 of Act XVII of 1950 reads as follows:—
"The United State of Rajasthan Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Ordinance 1948, the Matsya Premises (Rent Control) Ordinance, 1948, the Jaipur Rent Control Order. 1947, the Marwar House Rent Control Act, 1949, the Sirohi State Rent Restric-tion Act, 1944, and other corresponding laws of the Covenanting States dealing with the control of rents and evictions shall be repealed with effect from the date on which this section comes into force;"
There is a proviso which makes the usual provision that anything done or action taken before such date under the repealed law shall, until varied or superseded under the new Act, continue and be deemed to have been done or taken in pursuance of the new Act as if it was then in force.
4. I