U. N. Bhachawat, J

The matter has come up before us on a reference of the following question by Single Bench:-

Whether in a suit for ejectment, the Court is competent to grant a decree for rent from the date of the suit till the date of decree, while dismissing the suit for ejectment ?

The facts leading to the present reference essential for giving our opinion are these:

The plaintiff-respondent No. 1 filed the suit against the defendants, out of whom two are the appellants, viz., defendants No. 5 and 6, in this appeal, for ejectment, arrears of rent, electric charges and mesne profits from the date of the suit till the delivery of possession. The suit was filed on the basis of contract of tenancy. The ejectment was sought on various grounds including the ground under 12(1)(a) of the M. P. Accommodation Control Act, 1961, (for short, hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') which need not be enumerated here. The two courts below, i.e., the trial court as well as the first appellate court, found that only defendants Nos. 5 and 6 are the tenants and that no ground for ejectment under the Act was made out. The trial court had, thus, dismissed the suit for ejectment and for mesne prof