J U D G M E N T

A. Muhamed Mustaque, J The tenant is before us. The tenant who is an Advocate clerk by profession is pitting against a lawyer of the same bar. The lawyer is the landlord. The interesting questions that have arisen for consideration by us are, i) whether the rent arrears can be claimed together with interest; ii) If interest can be claimed by the landlord, can the landlord claim interest for the revised rent based on the fair rent fixation by this Court with a retrospective date. These are the two questions to be decided in this original petition.

2. The questions are discernible from the operative portion of the order of the Rent Controller, which reads thus:

“The respondent is directed to deposit Rs.71,729/- (Rupees Seventy One Thousand

Seven Hundred and Twenty Nine only) which is the admitted arrears of rent for the period from 18.08.2012 to 18.01.2019 @ Rs.3077/- per month, along with interest @ 6% per annum from 18.08.2012 till the date of deposit, within a four weeks from today. The respondent shall also continue to pay or deposit the rent accrues in future.”

3. We shall advert to the first question in regard to the interest. The present proceedings arise from an