PARTHAKUMAR Vs. VENUGOPALAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE challenge in this Writ Petition, filed by the respondent in Rent Control Petition no. 67/95 of the Rent Control Court, Kozhikode, is against Exts. P7, P8 and P9 orders passed by that Court. Under Ext. P7 order the Rent Control Court has allowed an application to reopen the case which stood posted for hearing/judgment. Under P8 the Court has allowed an application under O. 11 R. 14 of the Code of Civil Procedure and directed the petitioner to produce certain documents which were sought to be produced. Under Ext. P9 order the Rent Control Court has allowed an application filed by the respondents invoking S. 151 and O. 11 R. 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure and permitted the respondents to serve a few interrogatories to be answered by the petitioner.

(2.) WE heard the submissions of Sri. K. P. Dandapani, learned senior counsel for the petitioner. Learned senior counsel would argue that the Rent Control Court has no power to permit service of interrogatories by a party on his adversary. Referring to S. 23 of the Act 2 of 1965, the learned Counsel submitted that the Rent Control court cannot assume powers given to regular Civil Court trying suits other than those which are specifically conferred under that section.

(3.) LEARNED senior counsel would further submit that even assuming that there is power to permit service of interrogatories, such power has to be exercised before the commencement of trial and not at the present stage when the entire evidence is over and the case stands posted for judgment. Learned Senior Counsel submitted that it was in response to a remand order passed by the Rent Control Appellate authority in R. C. A. No. 25/1998 and R. C. A. 26/98 that the Rent Control Court is considering the Rent Control Petition for fresh decision on the question as to whether the petitioner's denial of the title claimed by the respondent is bona fide. The scope of the remand order was only to give opportunity to the appellants (respondents in this Writ Petition) to produce certain documents which were sought to be produced before the Appellate Authority. The applications which are now allowed by the Rent control Court are all applications beyond the scope of the remand order and for that reason also the impugned orders are illegal.