Judgment

N. L. UNTWALIA, J. - This apeal by special leave at the instance of the tenant of certain premises in the town of Vellore was heard by a larger Bench of this Court consisting of seven Judges to resolve the cleavage of opinion between the various High Courts in India as also between several decisions of this Court, on the question as to whether in order to get a decree or order for eviction against a tenant under any State Rent Control Act it is necessary to give a notice under Section 106 of the Transfer of Property Act. We proceed to do so in this judgment.

2. The respondent filed an application against the appellant under Section 10 (3) (a) (iii) of the Tamil Nadu Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1960, hereinafter referred to as the Tamil Nadu Rent Act, on the ground of personal necessity. The Rent Controller held that the requirement of the respondent was not genuine and he accordingly dismissed her petition. On appeal by the landlady the Appellate Court held in her favour on the point of her requiring the premises bona fide for her personal necessity but maintained the dismissal of her application on the ground that a notice to quit was necessary and the one given by her was not in accordance with law. The landlady took up the matter in revision to the Madras High Court. A learned single Judge of that Court following his earlier decision in K. Sukumaran v. S. Neelakantan, (1976) 2 Mad LJ 84 held that notice to quit under Section 106 of the Transfer of Property Act was not necessary for seeking an eviction of a tenant under the Tamil Nadu Rent Act. Hence this appeal by the tenant.

3. We do not think it necessary to decide in this appeal whether the notice to quit given to the appellant was a valid notice in accordance with Section 106 of the Transfer of Property Act. The controversy before us centered round the question whether such a notice was at all necessary to be given.

4. We shall presently refer to the various decisions of the High Court and this Court taking contrary views. But before we do so we may make some general observations. It is well-known that after the second world war to give protection to a tenant against unnecessary, undue or unreasonable eviction and in the mater of being exploited for payment of exorbitant rent all States in India at one time or the other passed Building Rent and Control Acts. Amendments in them were brought about from time to time. The language and the scheme of the Acts varied and differed from State to State. Even though there was no basis or fundamental difference in regard to the law of eviction of a tenant in any of the State Statutes, different constructions were put in regard to them and principles were culled out in varying manners to arrive at the conclusions in some cases that a notice to quit in accordance with Section 106 of the Transfer of Property Act was necessary and in some it was held that it was not necessary. The gravamen of the underlying principles seems to have been overlooked in many cases.

5. Under the Transfer of Property Act the subject of "Leases of Immovable Property" is dealt with in Chapter V. S. 105 defines the lease, the lessor, the lessee and the rent. Purely as a matter of contract, a lease comes into existence under the Transfer of Property Act. But in all social legislations meant for the protection of the needy, not necessarily the so-called weaker section of the society as is commonly and popularly called, there is appreciable inroad on the freedom of contract and a person becomes a tenant of a landlord even against his wishes on the allotment of a particular premises to him by the authority concerned. Under Section 107 of the Transfer of Property Act a lease of immovable property from year to year, or for any term exceeding one year, or reserving a yearly rent, can be made only by a registered instrument. None of the State Rent Acts has abrogated or affected this provision. Section 108 deals with the rights and liabilities of lessor