RAM DASS Vs. DAVINDER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A suit based on landlord-tenant relationship, filed by the appellant against the respondent, on the ground available under Section 13 (2) (v) of the Haryana Urban (Control of Rent) and Eviction Act, 1973 (hereinafter the Act, for short) was decreed by the Rent Controller, Rohtak and maintained in appeal by the Appellate Authority. In a revision preferred under Section 15 (6) of the Act, the High Court has set aside the findings of the two authorities below and directed the application seeking eviction of the respondent to be dismissed. Feeling aggrieved, the landlord has filed this appeal by special leave.

(2.) Under Section 13(2) (v) of the Act, on an application filed by a landlord seeking to evict his tenant, the Controller may, after giving the tenant a reasonable opportunity of showing cause against the application, make an order directing the tenant to put the landlord in possession of the building if the Controller is satisfied that the tenant has ceased to occupy the building for a continuous period of four months without reasonable cause.

(3.) The existence of landlord tenant relationship between the parties is not in dispute. The suit accommodation is a shop situated in commercial locality. The respondent seems to be a petty shopkeeper. He sells sweets and vends tea from the suit shop. According to the appellant, the respondent had ceased to occupy the shop for a continuous period of four months without reasonable cause. The period during which the premises are alleged to have remained without occupation is since February 1990 till the date of filing of the application, i.e. 14-6-1991.