SRIPADA RAMAYYAS ESTATE Vs. VANUM APPA RAO

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Plaintiff is the appellant. The suit is at the instance of the landlord for recovery of arrears of rent in respect of. the lease of agricultural land. The defendant denied liability to pay the rent for the concerned year in view of the total damage to the crops on account of cyclone. This plea was negatived by the trial court and the suit was decreed On appeal, the judgment and decree of the trial Court were reversed on the ground that there was a total damage due to cyclone and therefore the landlord is not entitled to recover tha rent for the said year.

(2.) Sri CVN Sastry, learned counsel for the appellant contended that the tenant is not absolved from liability to pay rent in view of the clause in the lease deed obligating the tenant to pay rent despite cyclone and in any event, the remission in the rent consequent upon the cyclone has to be canvassed before the forum prescribed under the A. P. Tenancy Act. The learned counsel for the respondent contends that the clause enabling the landlord to recover the rent notwithstanding the cyclone is void and the hierarchy of authorities constituted under AA Tenancy Act cannot go into the question whether lease deed is void and this aspect is covered by the decision of this Court in in Sitaramaswami Temple vs. CS Murthy (1) (1983 (1) APU. 170).

(3.) The learned CounseJ for the appellant maintains that the division Bench decision of this Court in 1983 (1) APLJ. 170 (1 supra) touching upon this aspect cannot be considered as correct in view of the decision of the Supreme Court in Dhruv Dev vs. Harmohinder Singh (2) AIR 1968 S C 1024) and it is also in conflict with the decision of the Division Bench of this Court in K Pichayya vs. K.S. Charyulu (3) (AIR 1968 A P 311).