JAYANTILAL KESHAVLAL PATEL Vs. DEVSHI CHAKUBHAI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The plaintiff filed the present suit for recovering possession of the suit premises from the defendant on the grounds that the defendant had unlawfully sub-let the suit premises and that the defendant had been in arrears of rent. The defendant in his turn pleaded that the statutory notice served upon him was not valid and that standard rent of the suit premises should be fixed.

(2.) The learned Trial Judge upheld the plaintiffs plea as to unlawful sub-letting of the suit premises by the defendant but held that the suit notice served by the plaintiff upon the defendant was invalid. In that view of the matter he dismissed the plaintiffs claim for possession. However he fixed at the instance of the defendant the standard rent of the suit premises at Rs. 95.00 per month.

(3.) The plaintiff appealed to the District Court against the decree passed by the learned Trial Judge. The learned Appellate Judge recorded no finding on the controversy relating to arrears of rent but held that the plaintiff had proved that the defendant had unlawfully sub-let the suit premises to someone else. He reversed the finding recorded by the learned Trial Judge that the standard rent of the suit premises should be Rs. 95.00 p.m. He fixed the standard rent at Rs. 150.00 p.m. which was the contractual rent because in his opinion the defendant had not shown that it was excessive. He however upheld the finding recorded by the learned Trial Judge that the statutory notice served by the plaintiff upon the defendant was invalid. He therefore dismissed the appeal.