KESAVAN Vs. S. VINCENT PILLAI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE landlord is the petitioner in this case. There seems to be previous proceedings against the tenant when he committed default in payment of rents, but those proceedings seem to have been compromised. Finally there was proceeding in H.R.C.O.P. No. 72 of 1966 in respect of the default committed by the respondent herein. Even that petition was compromised according to Exhibit A -7 in and by which the tenant agreed to pay rent regularly on or before the 5th of every succeeding month. The rent has to be reckoned according to the English calendar month. In spite of the said agreement the tenant has not paid rents from 11th November, 1966 to 27th February, 1967. Necessarily the landlord has filed H.R.C.O.P. No. 144 of 1967 on 3rd April, 1967, contending that the tenant -respondent herein has committed wilful default in paying rents for the period from 11th November, 1966 to 28th February, 1967, at the rate of Rs. 35 per month, the premises being a non -residential one.

(2.) THE contention of the respondent seems to have been that the landlord accepted rent at irregular intervals in the sense that the landlord agreed to receive the rent in lump sum instead of every month. The said contention has been negatived by all the Courts below including the revisional Court wherein the agreement sought to be put by the tenant has been disbelieved. Even though the Rent, Controller's Court and also the appellate authority have clearly given a finding as regards wilful default, the revision Court, i.e., the District Judge, Tiruchirapalli has reversed the said finding. No doubt the revision to the District Judge is under Section 25 of the Madras Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act which is of wider amplitude that the revision under Section 115, Civil Procedure Code. But to interfere under Section 25 of the Rent Control Act, it is not the duty of the Court to go into the merits of the facts but it must generally see whether there is any error of law or miscarriage of justice. On the other hand, the District Judge seems to have ignored all these aspects and simply reversed the finding of both the Courts below on the ground that the landlady did not insist on the payment of the rent on or before the 5th of every succeeding month when she received the money -orders for the months of June to October, without any demur.

(3.) IN Lingambhotla Subbayya v. The Subordinate Judge, Vijayawada wad Anr. (1955) 1 M.L.J. 514 : A.I.R. 1951 Mad. 864 a Bench of this Court presided over by Rajamannar, C.J. and Somasundaram, J. has categorically held that though a landlord may not have been insisting on regular payments and was accepting without protest arrears of rent which had accumulated, if he chooses to apply Under Section 7 of the Madras Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, he will be entitled to an order of eviction, if he proves there has been a default as contemplated by the section. Mr. Rajaram wants to cite G. Rangaraju v. Parthasarathi (1960) IILLJ 351 Mad wherein Venkatadri, J., on the facts of that case held that there was no callousness or supine indifference on the part of the tenant in paying rent and as such default in paying the rent for a few days cannot be considered as wilful default. I do not think this decision will supersede the Bench decision of this Court in Lingambhotla Subbayya v. The Subordinate Judge, Vijayatuada and Anr. (1955) 1 M.L.J. 514 : A.I.R. 1951 Mad. 864 and further the facts of that case are entirely different from the facts of the case on hand.