KHAMBHALIA MUNICIPALITY Vs. CHUNILAL BHAGWANJI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant-defendant Khambhalia Municipality has filed the present appeal against the decree of eviction passed by the learned District Judge at Jamnagar in Civil Appeal No. 256/62 by which he reversed the decree of dismissal of the suit passed by the learned Civil Judge Junior Division at Khambhalia in Civil Suit No. 55 of 1961.

(2.) An interesting question whether Part II of the Saurashtra Rent Control Act 1951 hereinafter referred to as the Act applies to premises taken on lease by a municipality or not has arisen in this appeal. The plaintiff filed the suit claiming that the defendant municipality had taken on rent the suit premises for its office and as the tenancy has been duly terminated by a notice dated 24th July 1961 the defendant should be asked to hand over the possession of the suit premises. It was claimed by the plaintiff that the premises were rented by the municipality for its office and so the provisions of the Act would not apply to the same. The defendant contested the suit and urged that the Act is applicable to the suit premises as the municipality was carrying on its entire business in the suit premises. The learned trial Judge held that the Act applied to the suit premises and dismissed the suit. Thereafter an appeal was preferred by the plaintiff in the Court of the District Judge at Jamnagar who allowed the appeal and passed the decree for eviction as stated above.

(3.) Mr. Vakharia appearing on behalf of the municipality urged that the learned Judge erred in interpreting sec. 6(1) of the Act. He contended that by virtue of sec. 4(1) the provisions of Part II would also apply and the learned Judge was in error in passing the decree against the municipality. He also contended that the learned Judge erred in interpreting the expression `business in sec. 6(1) of the Act. According to him the expression business would include the activities carried on by the municipality and as such Part II of the Act would apply to the suit premises.