SRI NATH Vs. DISTRICT JUDGE ALLAHABAD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a tenant's petition under Art. 226 arising out of proceedings under Sec. 21 Act No. XIII of 1972 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) in respect of a shop situate on Zero Road, Allahabad.

(2.) The brief relevant facts are these: The building in which the disputed shop is situate belongs to three brothers. On the ground floor abutting the road are four shops two of which are in possession of one brother Munni Lal who is running a photograph studio in the name of Rama Studio. One shop has been in possession of Harihar Prasad the landlord relevant to this case who formerly had a general merchandise shop in it in the style of Manjul Stores. The fourth or the disputed shop has been in petitioner's possession as a tenant and he has been carrying on a business of book binding in it. The landlord's claim for this shop was based on the grounds that Harihar Prasad had obtained diploma in photography from Allahabad University, that he had closed the general merchandise shop and wanted to start a photography business for which at least two rooms are required. It was also alleged that the tenant was well off and had built a commodious house near Ram Bagh Railway Station and also owned a plot of land. The landlord's brother was said to have a house in Hatia Bahadurganj also. The landlord's claim was that the three brothers had in 1956 made a private partition of the properties under which the disputed shop had fallen to the share of Harihar Prasad. The Prescribed Authority allowed the application per its order dated 21-4-1978. The District Judge as the appellate authority per his order, dated 29-1-1979 confirmed the order of the Prescribed Authority. These are the orders impugned by this writ petition.

(3.) The learned counsel for the petitioner tried to argue that Act No. XIII of 1972 was not applicable to only the buildings which had been constructed after the commencement of the Act. This was on the basis of certain observations of the Supreme Court in Special Leave Petition No. 4240 of 1979, Ratan Lal Shinghal Vs. Smt. Murti Devi, (since reported in 1979 AWC 752) . A transcript of the judgment was shown to me. The special leave petition was in the end dismissed, but apart from this with great respect the observations of the Supreme Court are made with regard to the provision relating to exemption of ten year old buildings from the operation of the Act and at the most mean that only buildings completed after the commencement of the Act No. XIII of 1972 would be exempted from the operation of the Act under that provision. The suggested interpretation of these observations is wholly untenable.