DEBI SANKAR BHATTACHARJEE Vs. IRENE DAVID

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The plaintiff is the owner of the premises No.9, Khetradas Lane, Calcutta. One Mrs. M. V. D'Cruz was the monthly tenant under the plaintiff according to English Calendar at a rent of Rs. 43 per month in respect of two bed-rooms with a bath and privy combined, a kitchen, a covered verandah and a projected verandah on the second floor (north-west side) of the said premises. The said Mrs. M. V. D'Cruz, who was an Anglo-Indian, died intestate in England on or about June 14, 1965. Prior to her departure for England she gave power in favour of the defendant's husband, inter alia, in respect of the said tenancy.

(2.) The plaintiff's case is that on her death the power granted by her also came to an end. The plaintiff does not dispute that the defendant is one of the heirs of the deceased being her pre-deceased daughter's daughter under Section 40 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, but contends that in spite thereto the tenancy right of the deceased could not vest in her nor could she inherit the same without a grant of the letters of administration being made in her favour by the competent Court in respect of such tenancy right.

(3.) The defence is that she was all along occupying the suit premises as the grand-daughter of the said Mrs. M. V. D'Cruz and upon the death of the said Mrs. M. V. D'Cruz her tenancy right had devolved on to her as one of the heirs of the deceased. She further contends that the other remaining heirs are in England and they have signified their consent in favour of the defendant as regards the tenancy right of the deceased, and on that basis the defendant claims to be the only heir entitled to inherit the said tenancy right. The defendant applied for a certificate from the Administrator-General, inter alia, in respect of the said tenancy under the Administrator-General Act (XLV of 1963) to prove that she was one of the heirs of the deceased, but the Administrator-General could not grant such a certificate in respect of the tenancy right under the said Act although for the purpose of realizing a small sum of Rs. 10 from the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation, such a certificate was granted under Section 29 of the Act.