KISHAN LAL MAHADEO PERSHAD Vs. I K SHARMA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this petition under Article 227 of the Constitution of India the petitioner challenges the order of the Competent Authority under the Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act, 1956 by which respondent No. 2 herein has been granted permission to file a petition for eviction against the petitioners herein before the Rent Controller, Delhi.

(2.) Briefly stated, the facts of the case are that respondent No. 2 (landlord) filed an application before the Competent Authority on June 4, 1971 for permission to evict the petitioners herein (tenants) from the premises comprising of a shop bearing No. 272 in Katra Pyare Lal, Chandni Chowk, Delhi of which petitioner No. 1 is a tenant under respondent No. 2. The application for permission set out the various grounds for eviction which were available to respondent No. 2, namely, non-payment of arrears of rent, sub-letting, substantial damage caused to the property and closure of business. According to respondent No. 2 petitioner No. 1 was a person of substantial means and his eviction would not create slums. This application was resisted by petitioner No. 1 on various grounds but it was admitted that petitioner No. 1 was residing at Jaipur where he was running a joint Hindu family business which was running at a loss. With regard to the shop it was contended that he was carrying on the business of cloth commission agency in the said shop under the name and style of M/s Doonger Mal Kishan Lal. It was also averred that his business was running at a loss and he had a large family. In these circumstances if he is evicted be was bound to create slum.

(3.) The Competent Authority came to the conclusion that petitioner No. I had shifted from Delhi to Jaipur and was not carrying on business here. In any case, no cogent evidence was led by petitioner No. 1 that he was carrying on business at Delhi. In the circumstances it was not necessary to discuss the status of petitioner No. 1