MANGAL CHAND DEAD Vs. GURBAKSH SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The landlord Gurbaskh Singh fileda petition for eviction of the tenant Mangal Chand. An order for eviction in respect of a part of the premises was passed by the Controller under Section 14 (1) (h) of the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958 (hereinafter called the Act). The tenant appealed to the Rent Control Tribunal against the order of eviction from a part of the premises and the landlord filed cross-objections against the dismissal of the petition for eviction in respect of the rest of the premises. But both the appeal and the cross-objections were dismissed by the Tribunal. The tenant thereupon filed this second appeal against the order of eviction of a part of the premises and the landlord filed cross-objections against the dismissal of his eviction petition in respect of the rest of the premises.

(2.) During the pendency of these proceedings the landlord terminated the contractual tenancy of the tenant by a notice to quit with the effect that the tenant became what is popularly called only a statutory tenant. As observed by the Supreme Court in Anand Nivas Pvt. Ltd. v. Anandji Kalyanji's Pedhi, AIR 1965 SC 414, however, such a person is not a tenant at all. He has no estate or interest in the premises. He has only a right to remain in possession due to the protection given by the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958. But this statutory protection is personal to him. When he dies, neither any right or interest in the demised premises nor the statutory protection is inherited by his legal representatives.

(3.) As pointed out by us in Batoo Mal v. Rameshwar Nath, AIR 1971 Delhi 98, the landlord is ordinarily bound to terminate the contractual tenancy of the tenant before he files an application for his eviction under the Act. But if he does not do so, it is for the tenant to object to the maintainability of the eviction petition on that ground. If the tenant fails to do so then the said objection is deemed to have been waived by the tenant. The position then is that the eviction petition of the landlord is maintainable but the contractual tenancy comes to an end when an order for eviction is passed against the tenant. For, according to the definition of "tenant" in Section 2 (1) of the Act, a person against whom an order for eviction is passed ceases to be a tenant. This rule is, however, subject to the possibility that the order of eviction may be reversed in appeal. In that event the status of a tenant will be restored. Otherwise, the tenant would become a statutory tenant only. Another way to terminate the contractual tenancy of the tenant is to give him a notice to quit under Section 106 of the Transfer of Property Act if the tenancy in Delhi originated after 1-12-1962. If the tenancy commenced from before that date then only a reasonable notice is necessary to terminate the tenancy. The contractual tenancy can be terminated by the landlord at his will at any time. The landlord in the present case terminated the contractual tenancy of the tenant by a notice to quit during the pendency of the eviction proceedings. The effect of the notice to quit is however, the same whether it is given before the institution of these proceedings or during the pendency of these proceedings. The tenancy was, therefore, terminated before the death of the tenant. At the time of his death Shri Mangal Chand was only a statutory tenant.