ABDUL AZEEZ Vs. ALIMUHAMMED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is the respondent-tenant in R.C.P.No.8 of 2001 on the file of the Rent Control Court (Munsiff), Kodungallur, a petition filed by the 1st respondent herein-landlord, under Ss. 11(3) and 11(4)(iv) of the Kerala Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1965, seeking an order of eviction of the tenant from the petition schedule shop room. The 1st respondent-landlord has also filed R.C.P.Nos.2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11 and 12 of 2001 against the tenants in the adjacent shop rooms. During the pendency of these Rent Control Petitions, a compromise petition was filed in R.C.P.No.8 of 2001 and connected matters. The Rent Control Court, by the order dtd. 19/3/2004, disposed of R.C.P.No.8 of 2001 and connected matters in terms of that compromise. Accordingly, the petitioner-tenant and others gave vacant possession of the shop rooms to the 1st respondent-landlord for reconstruction. As per that compromise, the landlord has to complete the reconstruction of the building within ten months from 19/8/2004 and allot one room each to the respective tenants.

(2.) The tenant in R.C.P.No.8 of 2001 filed I.A.No.1213 of 2013, invoking the provisions under the second proviso to Sec. 11(4)(iv) of the Act, seeking permission to reconstruct the tenanted premises and permit him to adjust the cost of construction in the rent which accrues later. On receipt of notice in I.A.No.1213 of 2013, the 1st respondent-landlord entered appearance and filed counter, contending that the tenant is not legally entitled to such a relief on account of the delay of 9 years in filing the application. The landlord has also raised a contention that, due to financial problem, he assigned the property in question to a third party. In view of the said contention, the subsequent purchaser was impleaded as the 2nd respondent in I.A.No.1213 of 2013, who has also filed counter in the said interlocutory application.

(3.) The Rent Control Court, after considering the rival contentions, dismissed I.A.No.1213 of 2013 in R.C.P.No.8 of 2001, by the order dtd. 27/3/2017. Feeling aggrieved, the tenant filed R.C.A.No.110 of 2017 before the Rent Control Appellate Authority (Additional District Judge), Irinjalakkuda. That appeal ended in dismissal by the judgment dtd. 19/2/2020. Challenging the order dtd. 27/3/2017 of the Rent Control Court in I.A.No.1213 of 2013 in R.C.P.No.8 of 2001 and also the judgment dtd. 19/2/2020 of the Rent Control Appellate Authority in R.C.A.No.110 of 2017, the petitioner-tenant is before this Court in this Rent Control Revision, invoking the provisions under Sec. 20 of the Act.