NATIONAL TEXTILE CORPORATION Vs. J.VENKATARAMANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner in the Civil Revision Petition is the tenant, who had suffered an eviction order before the appellate authority. The original eviction petition on the ground of willful default in R.C.O.P.No.1374 of 2008 came to be dismissed on the ground that the landlord had failed to prove that the petitioner had wilfully defaulted in paying rents for the period between January 2007 till June 2008. On appeal, the learned Rent Controller had allowed the eviction petition by observing that the petitioner herein had failed to deposit the rents in the Court at the earliest point of time and as such, failure to deposit the rent would amount to willful default. As against the same, the present revision has been filed.

(2.) Heard Mr.K.V.Sundararajan, learned counsel for the petitioners and Mr.K.V.Sanjeevkumar, learned counsel for the respondent.

(3.) The learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that though the default period is admitted, the same would not amount to 'willful default' in view of the conduct of the petitioners herein. According to him, when the respondent herein had intimated the death of his father and had requested that rents be paid to him through a legal notice dated 06.02.2007, they had immediately sent Ex.P2, letter dated 22.02.2007, seeking for the death certificate and legal heirship certificate, followed by several other letters seeking for these documents. In the meantime, the petitioners were also keeping the rent in a separate account and they were awaiting for the legal heirship certificate and death certificate. When the respondent herein had filed the R.C.O.P, they had immediately deposited the entire rental arrears of Rs.50,000/- in the Court. In view of such conduct, the default cannot be termed as "willful default "?.