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1950 Supreme(All) 125

IN THE HIGH COURT OF ALLAHABAD
Bind Basni Prasad, J.
ABHILAKH RAM - Appellant
Versus
B.UMA SHANKER - Respondents
Second Appeal 270 Of 1948
Decided On : 04/12/1950

Headnote:

U. P. (TEMPORARY) CONTROL OF RENT AND EVICTION ACT, 1947 - SECTION 14 - INTERPRETATION - ACT CAME INTO FORCE ON 1ST MARCH 1947 BUT DEEMED TO HAVE COME INTO FORCE ON 1ST OCTOBER 1946 - SECTION 14 BARS EXECUTION OF DECREE FOR EVICTION PASSED BEFORE 1ST MARCH 1947 EXCEPT ON GROUNDS MENTIONED IN SECTION 3 OR IF TENANT AGREES TO PAY REASONABLE ANNUAL RENT.

Fact of the Case:

A consent decree for ejectment was passed against the respondent on 14th February 1947. The respondent relied on Section 14 of the U. P. (Temporary) Control of Rent and Eviction Act, 1947, which came into force on 1st March 1947 but was deemed to have come into force on 1st October 1946, to contend that he was not liable to ejectment.

Finding of the Court:

The court held that the respondent was entitled to the benefit of Section 14 of the Act and that the execution of the decree could not proceed unless any of the grounds mentioned in Section 3 of the Act existed or if the respondent did not agree to pay reasonable annual rent.

Issues: Whether the U. P. (Temporary) Control of Rent and Eviction Act, 1947, barred the execution of a decree for ejectment passed before it came into force.

Ratio Decidendi: The court interpreted Section 14 of the Act to mean that it barred the execution of a decree for eviction passed before 1st March 1947, except on any of the grounds mentioned in Section 3 or if the tenant agreed to pay reasonable annual rent. The court held that the Act came into force on 1st March 1947 but was deemed to have come into force on 1st October 1946.

Final Decision: The court allowed the appeal, set aside the order of the District Judge, and remanded the case for rehearing in light of the observations made in the judgment.

BIND BASNI PRASAD, J.

( 1 ) THE point in issue in this appeal lies in a narrow compass. The respondent is a tenant of a house belonging to the appellant. On 13th July 1946 the appellant brought a suit against the respondent for his ejectment from the house. A consent decree was passed on 14th February 1947, according to which the tenant was allowed a certain time to vacate the house. He did not vacate it. The appellant then filed an application for the execution of the decree. Meanwhile the (U. P. Temporary) Control of Rent and Eviction Act, 1947 (U P. Act III [3] of 1947) was passed. Inter alia the tenant relying upon Section 14 of that Act contended that he was not liable to ejectment. This section runs as follows:

"14. No decree for the eviction of a tenant from any accommodation passed be as long as this Act remains in force, except on any of the grounds mentioned in Section 3. Execution of pend-commencement fore the date of ing decree for evic-tion. of this Act shall in so far as it reates to the eviction of such tenant, be executedagainst him provided that the tenant agrees to pay to the landlord reasonable annual rent" or the rent payable by him before the passing of the decree, whichever is higher. "

( 2 ) THE Act received the assent of the Governor General on 28th February 1947, under Section 76, Government of India Act, 1935, and was published in the U, P. Gazette Extraordinary, dated 1st March 1947. By Sub-section (3) of Section 1 of the Act it was provided that it would be deemed to have come into force on the let day of October 1946.

( 3 ) LEARNED counsel for the appellant contends that the Act commenced from the 1st day of october 1946, and as this decree was passed subsequent to that date Section 14 is not available to the respondent. I am unable to agree to this. The word "commencement" as defined in sub-section (10) of Section 4 U. P. General Clauses Act, 1904, is as follows: " commencement used with reference to an Act, shall mean the day on which the Act comes into force. " sub-section (3) of Section 1, U. P. (Temporary) Control of Bent and Eviction Act, 1947, came into force, according to Section. 5, U. P. General Clauses Act, 1904, on the day when it was first published in the Official Gazette. Before such publication this Act had no effect. The words "the day on which the Act comas into force" appearing in Sub-section (10) of Section 4, U. P General clauses Act, 1904, mean the date on which the Act acquires statutory effect and not the date on which it in deemed to have came into force. There is a sharp distinction between the date on which an Act comes into force and the date on which it is deemed to have come into force. As already stated this Act came into force on 1st March 1947, but by virtue of Sub-section (3) of section 1 it would be deemed to have come into force on 1st October 1946.

( 4 ) SECTION 5, Clause (1), U. P. General Clauses Act does not help the appellant. It runs as follows: "where any United Provinces Act is not expressed to come into operation on a particular day, then it shall come into operation if it is Act of the Legislature, on the day on which the assent thereto of the Governor, the Governor-General or His Majesty, as the ease may require, is first published in the Official Gazette and if it is in Act of the Governor, on the day on which it is first published as an Act in the Official Gazette".

( 5 ) THERE is a distinction between the words "conies into force" and "come into operation". In sub-section (10) of Section 4, U. P. General Clauses Act, the words used are "cornea into force" whereas in Section 6 of that Act the words used are "come into operation". If the intention of the legislature had been to convey the same sense in the two sections the sama language would have been used. The U. P. (Temporary) Con-4roi of Rent and Eviction Act, 1917, came into force on 1st March 1947 and came into operation from 1st October 1946.

( 6 ) ACTS should be so interpreted as to avoid anomal







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