ABINASH MAHANTA Vs. JAJNESWAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this common judgement and order. I propose to dispose of two revision petitions registered as Criminal Revision Nos. 331/88 and 335/88. Facts are as follows :- Jaineswar Mahanta, petitioner in Criminal Revision No. 335/88 is the landlord of the room in dispute and Abinash Mahanta. Opposite party in the above Criminal Revision is his monthly tenant and he is running restaurant business. The tenant failed to pay rent from 1-7-86 and a lawyer's notice was served on the tenant. The landlord filed a petition before the learned Additional District Magistrate, Gauhati in October, 1987 alleging, inter alia, that the tenant failed to pay the rent, closed the said restaurant for 2 months keeping the room under lock and key and left the place without any intimation of the landlord. Other allegations were made in the said petition regarding the conduct of the tenant and keeping all furniture, fixtures and utensils in the said room On the basis of the said petition on 2-11-87, the learned Addl. District Magistrate passed an order observing, inter alia, as follows :

(2.)

(3.) I have stated the facts fully in order to show how an Executive Magistrate by exercising power under Police Act can evict a tenant from a house. This Court has come across such eviction by Magistrate by exercising powers under Section 144, Cr. P.C. But this is the first time this Court has come across such eviction lay resorting to the provisions of the Police Act. There cannot be any dispute for the reasons which I shall presently state that exercise of powers is beyond jurisdiction and has to be set aside by invoking the inherent powers of this Court, as in my opinion this is a clear case of abuse of process of the Court by a landlord.