CR No.3009 of 2022 (O&M)

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT

CHANDIGARH

CR No.3009 of 2022 (O&M)

Date of decision: 02.08.2022

Neeraj Malhotra

....Petitioner

Versus

Jaswant Singh

....Respondents

CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ARVIND SINGH SANGWAN

Present:

Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma, Advocate

for the petitioner.

ARVIND SINGH SANGWAN J.

Prayer in this petition is for setting-aside the order dated

18.04.2022 passed by the Lower Appellate Court vide which the order

dated 25.08.2021 passed by the Rent Controller, U.T., Chandigarh,

allowing the application filed by the petitioner under Order 7 Rule 11

CPC, was allowed.

Brief facts of the case are that the respondent/landlord

filed an eviction petition under Section 13 of the Punjab Urban Rent

Restriction Act, 1949 (as amended upto date) (hereinafter referred to as

'the Act of 1949'), for eviction of the petitioner from the tenanted

premises/house on the ground of non-payment of rent, change of user as

well as personal necessity. The said rent petition was filed in the year

2018. The petitioner/tenant appeared and filed an application under

Order 7 Rule 11(d) CPC for rejection of the petition on the ground that

the petition is filed under the provisions of Section 13 of the Act of

1949, stands repealed and Section 75 of the Punjab Rent Act, 1995 (in

MOHD YAKUB

2022.08.05 16:18

I attest to the accuracy and

authenticity of this document

Punjab and Haryana High Court,

Chandigarh

CR No.3009 of 2022 (O&M)

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short 'the Act of 1995') provides that on commencement of the Act of

1995, the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949 (Act No.3 of

1949), stands repealed. It is further provided that under Sub-Section (1)

of the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949, all cases and other

proceedings in respect of the premises other than owned by a non-

resident India, let out prior to the commencement of this Act shall be

governed and disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the Act

so repealed.

It was, thus, submitted by the petitioner/tenant that since

the rent petition is filed under the repealed Act, the plaint is liable to be

rejected.

The respondent/landlord filed reply and contested the same

on the ground that due to inadvertent omission only in the heading of

the petition, it is mentioned as under Section 13 of the Act of 1949

whereas the petition is filed under Section 20 of the Act of 1995 (as

amended upto date). It was also submitted that all the grounds

mentioned in the body of the eviction petition are formed on the basis

of Section 20 of the Act of 1995, as amended upto date and while filing

the written statement, no such plea was taken by the

respondent/landlord.

It was also submitted that the application is filed only after

the assessment of provisional rent in which the arrears are more than

Rs.40.00 lacs and in order to avoid the liability, the application has

been filed just to delay the proceedings.

The trial Court vide order dated 25.08.2021, allowed the

MOHD YAKUB

2022.08.05 16:18

I attest to the accuracy and

authenticity of this document

Punjab and Haryana High Court,

Chandigarh

CR No.3009 of 2022 (O&M)

3

application holding that as per Section 1 and Section 75(1) of the Act of

1995, it is clear that w.e.f. 30.11.2013 coming into force the Act of

1995, the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949, stands

repealed and as per the proviso, no proceedings between the parties

were pending on the date when the Act of 1995 came into existence, the

respondent/landlord has erroneously filed the petition under the Act of

1949. The operative part of the order dated 25.08.2021, reads as under:-

“Hence, this Court is of the opinion that the

alleged tenancy agreement between the parties is

governed by the provisions of Punjab Rent Act, 1995 and

not by the provisions of East Punjab Urban Rent

Restriction Act, 1949. In such a scenario, present rent

petition is barred by Section 75(1) of the Punjab Rent

Act, 1995 an