P.V. Dixit, C.J.

This reference by Shiv Dayal J. has been made in a second appeal arising out of a suit for ejectment and arrears of rent. The question referred to for our decision is:

Where the defendant denies the title of the plaintiff in his written statement, can a decree for eviction be passed under section 4(f) of the Madhya Pradesh Accommodation Control Act, 1955, although the suit was not based on that ground.

The question does not present any difficulty on the clear language of section 4(f) of the Act. That provision runs as follows:

No suit shall be filed in any civil Court against a tenant for his eviction from any accommodation except on one or more of the following grounds:-

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(f) that the tenant has renounced his character as such or denied the title of the land-lord and the latter has not waived his right;

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The words "no suit shall be filed" and the expression in clause (f) "has renounced...or denied the title of the landlord" clearly indicate that the renunciation or the denial must be one before the filing of the suit. Therefore, a denial in the written statement by the tenant of the landlord's title cannot give to the landlord a ground for ejectment.