HARI CHARAN HALWASIYA Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an application in revision against the order of Shri T. Prasad, Additional Sessions Judge, Lucknow, dated 22-5-1950.

(2.) It appears that the three applicants, H. C. Halwasiya, D. P. Halwasiya and B. P. Halwasiya, were convicted by the City Magistrate of Lucknow under Section 8, U. P. (Temporary) Rent Control and Eviction Act, 1947. It is said that the applicants were tenants of a house in Mohalla Narhai, Lucknow, which they had reserved for the purposes of their staff from whom they never charged any rent and whom they allowed to occupy the premises as long as they were in the service of the applicants. It is said that one Mr. Roy used to live in that house in Narhai as employee of the applicants, that when he left, the premises were given to another employee, Bhatacharya but without the orders of the Rent Control and Eviction Officer and thereby a breach had been made of the order of the District Magistrate dated 8-3-1949. The defence was that the applicants were not landlords within the meaning of the Rent Control and Eviction Act and in these circumstances there had been no breach of any provisions of the Act or of the order of the District Magistrate, The City Magistrate did not accept the defence at all and sentenced the applicants each to a fine of Rs. 25/- and Shri Bhatacharya, although convicted, was let off after an admonition. The three applicants thereupon went up in revision to the learned Additional Sessions Judge. He thought that an appeal lay and not a revision in this case and therefore he dismissed the application for revision. It would appear that an application was put before the learned appellate Court that in case the revision was found to be incompetent it might be treated as an appeal. The learned Judge heard some arguments about it but there are no express orders and it may be taken that this application was rejected.

(3.) The applicants have come up in revision to this Court and have urged that the view of the learned lower Court that an appeal lay is completely wrong, that even if it had thought that an appeal lay, their prayer that the revision application should be treated as an appeal should have been accepted and the appeal then disposed of on merits and that on merits the order of the City Magistrate is entirely illegal. I have heard the learned counsel and am satisfied that this application must be allowed. It is not disputed that the applicants are themselves tenants of that house in Narhai in which they allowed Shri Bhatacharya to live as their employee. It is also not disputed that no rent whatever was charged from Shri Bhatacharya for occupation of the premises. In these circumstances relationship of landlord and tenant as contemplated under the Rent Control and Eviction Act is not established. Clearly the three applicants have committed no offence whatever. On this ground alone this application will succeed.