Order

Leave granted.

2. With the consent of learned counsel for the parties the appeal was finally heard today and is being disposed of by this order.

3. The appellants are the tenants in the premises situated at Secun­derabad in Andhra Pradesh. Provisions of A.P. Building (Lease, Rent & Eviction) Control Act, 1960 (‘the Act’ for short) govern the relation­ship between the appellant-tenants and the respondent-landlords.

4. The short question is whether the appellant-tenants were wilful defaulters in payment of rent on which ground the decree for posses­sion has been passed by the courts below under Section 10 of the Act. The arrears of rent were from July 1988 to December 1988. The appel­lants sent a telegram dated 17th December 1988 to the respondent-landlords calling upon them to issue receipts for the rent which they had already paid apprehending that the respondents may make out a case for default in payment of rent for these relevant months. The land­lords responded by giving reply dated 19th December 1988 stating that the rent was not paid and it was not correct to say that the receipts were not issued despite payment of rent for the relevant months. Under these circumstances, th