MATHURA PRASAD DARZI Vs. JITENDRA PRASAD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a plaintiff's appeal in a suit filed by him for ejectment and arrears of rent. According to the plaint the defendant was a tenant of the plaintiff in the premises on a monthly rent of Rs. 6/- and the tenancy was to commence from the 1st of every English calendar month and expired with the end of the month. The defendant fell in arrears of rent from 1st of Oct., 1956, to the 31st of Dec., 1956. Therefore, a notice demanding the arrears of rent and for ejectment was given on the 3rd of Jan. 1957 which was served on the defendant on the 7th Jan. 1957. The defendant neither paid the rent nor vacated the premises within a period of one month from the date of receipt of the notice, hence the suit.

(2.) The defendant inter alia pleaded that the notice was wrong and illegal. In the courts below the ground on which it was argued that the notice was illegal was that the rent had not remained in arrears for a period of more than three months and, therefore, the landlord was not entitled to issue notice or file a suit for ejectment. Before us in the alternative it was also argued that in any event rent for more than three months was not in arrears and, therefore, the notice was invalid and the suit was barred by Sec. 3 of the U.P. Control of Rent and Eviction Act.

(3.) The plea taken by the defendant in the court below found favour with both the courts and, therefore, they decreed the suit for arrears of rent but dismissed the suit for ejectment. Aggrieved by the decision the plaintiff has filed the present second appeal in this Court. It came up for hearing before one of us and the case of Ram Saran Vs. L. Bir Sen, 1958 A.W.R. High Court 62 was relied upon on behalf of the respondent. The single Judge did not agree with the view expressed in that case and as there was likely to be two contradictory decisions of two single Judges the matter was referred by him to a Bench.