RAJA PONNUTHAMBI Vs. K AUGUSTINE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The question which is res integra is whether the market value of the site is includible in the total cost of the building in fixing fair rent under Sec. 4 of the Tamil Nadu Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1960, for brevity the Act, when the landlord is the owner not of the site, but only of the building.

(2.) In this revision, the tenant assails the fair rent fixed by the Rent Controller (VIII Judge, Small Cause Court, Madras) in R.C. O.P. 1644 of 1983 and affirmed by the appellate authority (IV Judge, Small Cause Court, Madras), in R.C. A. 829 of 1984 at Rs. 510 per month. The only point urged by the learned counsel for the tenant is that as the landlord is only a lessee of the site Kalikambal Kamateswara Devastanam but not the owner, the market value of the site should not be included in the total cost of the building. This requires examination of Sec. 4 of the Act.

(3.) It is equally essential at this stage to notice the object of, and the scheme behind, the Act. They are to amend and consolidate the law relating to the regulation of letting in of residential and non-residential buildings and the control of rents of such buildings and the prevention of unreasonable eviction of tenants therefrom in the State of Tamil Nadu. Thus, the Act is concerned with the buildings alone, but not the site on which the buildings are constructed. All these will point out in no unmistakable terms that while fixing the fair rent, the market value of the site on which the building is constructed, should also be included in arriving at the total cost of the building for the simple reason that without the site, a building cannot exist. Again, I must point out that title to the site or building is alien to the Act, I have already referred to the fact that save Section 4, neither in the provisions of the Act nor in the rules is there any reference to the site. In particular, it is relevant to notice the definition of building, landlord and tenant. Section 2(2) defines'Building' : "Building means any building or hut or part of a building or hut, let or to be let separately for residential or non-residential purposes and includes - (a) the garden, grounds and outhouses, if any, appurtenant to such building, hut or part of such building or hut and let or to be let along with such building or hut, (b) any furniture supplied by the landlord for use in such building or hut or part of a building or hut, but does not include a room in a hotel or boarding house : Section 2(6) defines landlord :