O R D E R

This writ petition has been preferred by the petitioners / lessors against the lessee Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd., with a prayer to hand over peaceful and vacant possession of their property, pursuant to lapse /

termination of lease period.

2.The property in question in this writ petition originally belonged to the grandmother of the petitioners namely Eswari Bai, who has acquired the same by virtue of an absolute Sale Deed dated 20.10.1947, registered as Document No.2212/1947, at the Office of the Sub Registrar, Saidapet. She executed a Deed of Registered Lease dated 23.04.1955 in favour of M/s.Burmah - Shell Oil Storage and Distributing Company (India) Limited, permitting the said company to occupy the property as a Lessee for a period of ten years with effect from 01.01.1955, on quarterly rent of Rs.195/-, which is payable on or before the 10th day of the quarter succeeding. Upon expiry of the Lease on 31.12.1964, the said Eswari Bai and M/s.Burmah - Shell Oil Storage and Distributing Company (India) Limited, entered into a fresh Lease on 06.05.1965, registered as Document No.1139/1965 registered at the Office of the Sub Registrar, Saidapet. As per the terms of the Lease Deed, the Lessee was permitted to erect one or more Pumps or Filling Stations together with underground tank and other fittings, for storage of Petrol and High Speed Diesel Oil and to carry on business in such projects or allied accessories. As per the Lease Deed dated 06.05.1965, payment of quarterly rent on or before 10th of each quarter has been fixed as follows: -

"(i) Rs.600/- per quarter for the period from

1.1.1965 to 31.12.1974 (10 yrs)

(ii) Rs.1,200/- per quarter for the period from

1.1.1975 to 31.12.1984 (10 yrs)

(iii) Rs.1,800/- per quarter for the period from

1.1.1985 to 31.12.1994 (10 yrs)

(iv) Rs.2,400/- per quarter for the period from

1.1.1995 to 31.12.2004 (10 yrs) "

3.Clause 4(i) of the Lease Deed reads as under:

"4(i) If the rent hereby reserved or any part thereof shall be unpaid for twenty-one days after becoming payable and being formally demanded by Registered Letter or if any covenant on the lessee's part herein contained shall not be performed or observed it shall be lawful for the lessor at any time thereafter to re-enter upon the demised premises or any part thereof in the name of the whole and thereupon this demise shall absolutely determine."

4.As per the above Clause, in case of default of payment of rent for any quarter remains unpaid for 21 days delay will automatically result in determination / termination of the Lease Deed dated 06.05.1965. Further, there was no provision for extension / renewal of lease beyond the period of

40 years, namely 31.12.2004.

5.Under the provisions of Burmah-Shell (Acquisition of Undertakings in India) Act, 1976 (Shortly "the Act") the Government of India took over the company viz., M/s.Burmah - Shell Oil Storage and Distributing Company (India) Limited, as on 24.01.1976. By virtue of the above Act, the entire assets and liabilities of M/s.Burmah - Shell Oil Storage and Distributing Company (India) Limited, stood vested with the Central Government. Under Section 7 of the Act, all the interests and liabilities of M/s.Burmah - Shell Oil Storage and Distributing Company (India) Limited, in relation to its undertakings in India, shall be vests with the Burmah - Shell Refineries Ltd., which is a Government of India Company.

6.While the matter stood thus, the property, which is the subject matter in this writ petition was transferred in favour of the first respondent herein, with effect from 01.08.1977. The first respondent thereafter entered into an Agreement with "Madras City Lorry Owners Association" and permitted the said Association to carry on the business of the first respondent, as a Licensee and handed over the physical possession of the property to a third party. As such, the first respondent is not in possession of the property as of today.

7.As per Section 5(2) of the Act, on expiry of the