P I GEORGE Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a petition under Art.226 of the Constitution praying for a writ, direction or order quashing an order of the Rent Controller, Ernakulam, which was confirmed in appeal and revision.

(2.) The petitioner was the tenant of a building at Ernakulam. The third respondent who purchased the building and the garden wherein the same is situate applied to the Rent Controller for an order directing the tenant to put him in possession of the building, as he needed the same for his own occupation. The petitioner objected, contending that the petition was not maintainable. One of the grounds taken was that the right available to a landlord to get an order for eviction was not available to the vendee of the landlord. This question was heard as a preliminary point and the same was decided against the petitioner by the Rent Controller and the order was confirmed in appeal and revision. The correctness and validity of this order is questioned in this original petition.

(3.) The application for eviction was made when the Travancore - Cochin Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Order, 1950, was in force. That has been replaced by the Kerala Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 16 of 1959. S.11(3) of the Act contains a specific provision where the appellant is a transferee of the landlord. S.11(3) provides as follows: