PANCHAMAL NARAYAN SHENOY Vs. BASTHI VENKATESHA SHENOY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal, by special leave, is against the judgment of the Mysore High Court, dated June 8, 1966 in Civil Revision Petition No. 1118 of 1964.

(2.) The respondent landlord filed an application dated July 6, 1962 under Sec. 21 (l) (j) of the Mysore Rent Control Act, 1961 (Mysore Act XXII of 1961) (hereinafter called the Act) before the Rent Controller for eviction of the tenants (the appellants herein) on the ground that the premises were reasonably and bona fide required by him for the immediate purpose of demolishing and erecting of a new building. According to the respondent the premises were old and were not suitable for continued occupation. The respondent had also stated in his application that he had obtained the necessary licence for erecting a new building after demolition of the existing building and that he had made all preparations for demolition and erection of new buildings on the site. The appellant-tenant contested the claim of the landlord on several grounds. He pleaded that the premises were not old and that it was quite suitable for occupation and it does not require any reconstruction or re-modelling. The allegations that the building was old and required to be re-constructed were not bona fide and had been made by the landlord only as a pretext for evicting, the tenant. The tenant further pleaded that the requirement of the landlord was neither reasonable nor bona fide. In any event, the tenant claimed that he should be entitled to be paid the value of the improvements that had been effected by him.

(3.) The Rent Controller, by his order dated January 22, 1964 accepted the claim of the respondent and ordered eviction of the appellant granting the tenant one month's time for delivering vacant possession. Though the Consulting Engineer who gave evidence as P. W. 2 on behalf of the respondent had stated that the building was over 60 years old but nevertheless it could go on for about 15 years more, the Rent Controller actually found that the building was more than 50 years old and that it was an old-fashioned one. He further found that when the landlord desired to pull it down and put up a modern building thereon, it could not, under the circumstances, be said that his claim was not bona fide or reasonable and that the intention of the landlord in pulling down the building and erecting a new one to get a better return was certainly understandable. The Rent Controller further found that the landlord had proved that he had sufficient means to construct the building and that he had also obtained the necessary sanction from the Municipality concerned for reconstruction of the building. In view of all these circumstances, the Rent Controller found that the requirement of the landlord was quite reasonable and bona fide. Regarding the claim of the tenant for payment of improvements before eviction is ordered, the Rent Controller found that such a claim, even if established, could not stand in the way of landlord getting possession of the premises. Ultimately the application filed by the landlord was allowed.