The fair rent of a building should be fixed in accordance with the provisions of Section 4 of the Rent Control Act.

1. C.R.P. No.2750 of 1990 is by the tenant and the other Revision is by the landlord in R.CO.P.No.3284 of 1984, on the file of the Rent Controller (12th June, Court of Small Causes) at Madras.

.2. The landlord filed the present petition for fixation of fair rent of the Scheduled premiss. The agreed rent is Rs.4,500/- and the tenancy began on 5. 1981. According to the landlord, the rent that is now being paid by the tenant is not in accordance with the prevailing rate. According to him atleast the fair rent has to be fixed at Rs. 13,780/-taking into consideration the market value of the land, amenities, cost of construction, etc.

3. Tenant contended that there is no necessity for fixation of fair rent, and the present rent is reasonable, and that has to be fixed as fair rent.

4. The Rent Controller, after taking evidence, came to the conclusion that the fair rent will be at Rs.6,810/-. Both the landlord and tenant filed Appeals before the Appellate Authority as R.C.A.No.194 of 1988 and R.C.A.No.5 of 1988, respectively. The Appellate Authority dismissed the appeal of the tenant and fixed the fair rent of the building at Rs.8,967/-. It is against the judgment, both the parties have filed these Revisions.

5. Under Section 4 of the Rent Control Act, for the purpose of fixing the fair rent, the cost of the site in which the building is constructed and the cost of construction of the building as determined under the Section, have to be taken into consideration. In regard to the cost of construction of the building including the electrical installations, due regard had to be given for the rates adopted for the purpose of estimation by P.W.D. Proviso to Section 4(4) of the Rent Control Act also says how the vacant site also has to be taken into consideration for fixing fair rent.

.6. On going through these ingredients in fixing the fair rent, I feel that the Authorities below have not correctly followed the same. The total area is more than 9 grounds i.e. 21600 sq.ft. Out of the same, the landlord says that the ground floor comes to 4058 sq.ft and the first floor is 2978 sq.ft. According to the tenant, the ground floor comes to 3495 sq.ft. only. The same was accepted by the Courts below. Even through there is an Engineer’s Report which shows that the built up area comes to more tha n 4000 sq.ft. the same was not allowed by the Rent Controller, for the reason that nearly 600 sq.ft. of built up structure was put up by the tenant and, therefore, that has to be excluded for the purpose of consideration in fixing the fair rent. Learned counsel for the landlord submitted that in the counter-statement by the tenant, he has no case that he has put up any construction in the property and the exclusion of that area from consideration was, therefore, improper.

.7. Before the Rent controller, the approved plan for the construction of the building was not filed. But when the matter was taken in Appeal the landlord produced the approved plant wherein it showed that the area now alleged by the Landlord is included in the approved plan . So, naturally, it has to be taken that the building as it now stands was put up by the landlord himself. The learned counsel for the tenant submitted that even if there is a building plan, it does not follow that the landlord alone h as constructed the entire structure. He also wants to rely on the evidence of the landlord’s witness wherein he said that an area of 600 sq.ft. was constructed by the tenant. According to me, the witness who is an Engineer, cannot say or is not competent to say as to who constructed the building. He went to the property for the purpose of valuing it and also for measuring the same. When the landlord has taken building plant and the plinth area of the building is also more or less the same as shown in th e plant, an inference can be had that the entire structure was made by the landlord, himself. The exclusion of that area by both the Authorities below was, therefore, n