C L SURI Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The plaintiff C.L. Suri is the owner of House No. A-30, Link Road, Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi, and is the lessee of the land underneath this house under the defendant Union of India for a period of 99 years w.e.f. 20th May 1953 vide lease deed dated 28th July 1953. The Indian Carpet Centre was inducted as a tenant by the plaintiff in the ground floor portion of this house on rent on 25th August 1969 for a period of one year for purely residential purposes, but this tenant, after some time started misusing the tenanted portion for commercial purposes for which reason the plaintiff filed eviction petition being petition No. 293 of 1975 before the Rent Controllerwhich was dismissed on 31st August 1976 by Shri K.S. Gupta, then Addl. Rent Controller, but during the continuance of the appeal filed by the plaintiff before the Rent Control Tribunal, the said tenant vacated the tenanted premises on 22nd December 1976 and as a consequence the appeal was withdrawn as having become infructuous.

(2.) A notice dated 2 th October 1975 had been received by the plaintiff from the Assistant Settlement Commissioner of the Land & Development Office, requiring the plaintiff to remove the breaches observed in contravention of clause l(vii) of the lease deed within 30 days of the receipt of the notice failing which action of re-entry of the property and cancellation of the lease was threatened. The plaintiff replied that notice by slating that he had been trying to evict his tenant by filing eviction proceedings and that the Addl. Rent Controller had already held that there was no misuser by the tenant.

(3.) Then vide letter dated 4th September 1980 the Assistant Settlement Commissioner informed the plaintiff that the department would regularise the aforeasaid breach in case the plaintiff paid additional charges for the change of use to the tune of Rs. 65,697.20 paise and this letter was followed with letter dated 20-4-83/16-5-83 wherein further action was threatened in case the aforesaid misuser charges were not deposited within 30 days of the receipt of this letter.