IMPORTANT POINT
Eviction of tenant – Spirit of protection is fulfilled with passage of prescribed time period and filing of a fresh suit would lead to unnecessary multiplicity of litigation.

JUDGMENT :

SANJAY KISHAN KAUL, J.

1. Leave granted.

Procedural History:

2. The respondent is the tenant of a shop situated at Plot E-2, Kamani Mansion, Paanch Batti, MI Road, Jaipur, with the appellant as the landlord. The appellant purchased the property from its erstwhile owner, M/s Jaipur Metal Electric Co. on 30.01.1985. At the time, the tenanted premises were already under the tenancy of the respondent.

3. The appellant filed a suit for eviction on grounds of bona fide necessity before the Additional Civil Judge-I, Jaipur, on 21.05.1985. The suit was dismissed on 30.10.2002, inter-alia, on a finding that the plaint was not laid in accordance with Section 14(3) of the Rajasthan Premises (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act, 1950 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the said Act’) which proscribed the filing of a suit for eviction within five years from the date on which the premises were let out to the tenant. The Trial Court found that the premises were leased only on 08.06.1982 by the predecessor in interest of the appellant.

4. The appellant thereafter succeeded in the first appeal before the Additional District Judge, Jaipur, in terms of the judgment dated 18.03.2004. This was based on a stated admission of the respondent that he had initially leased the shop from one Udai Lal in 1958 and, thus, the suit could not be said to be hit by the restriction under Section 14(3) of the said Act. The Court disagreed with the respondent’s claim that the premises had been leased on 08.06.1982, finding that the original lease deed dated 08.06.1982 had not even been adduced before the trial court.

5. On the second appeal being preferred by the respondent, learned Single Judge of the High Court framed a preliminary question of maintainability on 04.10.2018.¹ [Although Section 22 of the Act proscribes the filing of a second appeal from a decree, it does not prohibit second appeals from suits for eviction filed before an ordinary court of competent jurisdiction. This was elaborated in Gyan Chand vs. Kunjbeharilal and Others, (1977) 3 SCC 317]. This was on account of what was stated to be conflicting views on the interpretation of Section 14(3) of the said Act by Coordinate Benches of the High Court. Thus, the Single Judge referred the matter to a Larger Bench. The question of law framed was as under:

“Whether the limitation of five years specified in Section 14(3) of the Rajasthan Premises (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act, 1950 bars the institution of the suit itself or whether it has only the consideration of the suit and passing of a decree therein?” (sic)

6. The aforesaid question of law is answered by the impugned judgment dated 20.04.2020. The Division Bench of the High Court noted the divergent views on the interpretation of Section 14(3) of the said Act. The first view was that Section 14(3) of the said Act created a complete prohibition on filing of a suit within five years of the tenancy. This was endorsed by the Court in Ashok Kumar vs. Suresh Chand and Others, 1996 (1) RLW 380 (Raj.) and Kahtoon Begum (Deceased) through LRs. vs. Bhagwan Das and Others, 2004 (1) RLW 502 (Raj.). The second view reflected in Late Mahadev and Others vs. Babu Lal and Others, (2006) 4 RDD 1868 (Raj.) and M/s. Vadhumal Kanhaiyalal and Others vs. Hemchand and Others, 2007 (270) WLC (Raj.) UC was that irregularity of a petition filed within five years of tenancy would get cured by the decree of eviction being made after the expiry of such period. The Division Bench agreed with the former interpretation, finding that there was no ambiguity in the language of Section 14(3) of the said Act, which created a complete bar to the filing of the suit. The provision is as under:

“14. Restriction on eviction:

(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in any law or contract, no suit for eviction from the premises let out for commercial or business purposes shall lie against a tenant on the ground set forth in clause (h) of sub-section (1) of section 13 before the expiry of five