KERALA TRANSPORT CO Vs. ATUL KUMAR AGARWAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The following questions of law arise for consideration in these two appeals :

(2.) The following facts in C.C.C.A. No. 78/81 are material. The lease in favour of the respondent in this appeal commenced on October 7, 1972, the rent being Rs. 750/- per month. The respondent-landlord gave a notice under S. 106 of the T.P. Act on December 23, 1978, terminating the tenancy by the end of January, 1979. The suit for possession and for past damages at the rate of Rs. 2,000/- per month for the months of February, March, April, 1979 was filed on April 28, 1979. According to the landlord the building was constructed in 1972 and according to the law as it stood then, the suit was filed in Civil Court. The tenant did not dispute the date of construction of the building as 1972. The plaintiff as P.W. 1 stated that he purchased the open land in September, 1969 for Rs. 10,000/- and constructed the godown in question in 1972-73, and that the defendant-appellant is his first-tenant. Apart from not disputing these facts, the tenant as D.W.1 stated that the building was at the time of his occupation just completed and there was no plastering or flooring. The above facts would, in our view, leave no doubt that the building was in fact constructed in 1972 and let out to the tenant in the same year on October 7, 1972. We are therefore not prepared to accept the contention of the respondent that the matter has to go back to the lower Court for further investigation on this question. We are of the view that the building was constructed in 1972 and the lease commenced on October 7,1972. We are also of the view that the Court below was right in holding that the notice under S. 106, T.P. Act issued on December 23,1978 is in compliance with the said section and that notice of two months is not necessary. The trial Court passed a decree for eviction on April 4, 1981 together with a decree for damages at the rate of Rs. 2,000/- P.M. from February 1, 1979 till date of eviction.

(3.) It is on the basis of these facts that we will decide the two questions that have already been set out above.