MALKIAT SINGH Vs. INDIAN OVERSEAS BANK AND ANR.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this common order, all the five revision petitions viz. Civil Revision Nos. 442 to 446 of 2009 shall be decided together. For reference, facts as enumerated in Civil Revision No. 442 of 2009 are required to be noticed.

(2.) Smt. Dharmi, a Non Resident Indian within the meaning of Section 2(dd) of the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949 (hereinafter to be referred as, 'the Act') filed a petition under Section 13-B of the Act against the tenant. It was pleaded in the eviction petition that she was a Non Resident Indian being permanent resident of England (U.K.) and she intended to start a Departmental Store at Jalandhar. Therefore, she required non-residential portion of the Lally Niwas. Lally Niwas was rented out to 15 tenants. Before this Court, five revision petitions are listed which have been filed against five tenants of the building owned by Smt. Dharmi.

(3.) During the pendency of eviction petitions, Smt. Dharmi expired on 24.11.2007 at Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, leaving behind legal heirs, namely, Malkiat Singh husband, T.S. Lally son and Smt. Navjit Kaur wife of Paramjit Singh daughter. After the death of Smt. Dharmi, an application was filed for bringing on record the legal representative of deceased Smt. Dharmi. It was pleaded in the application that Smt. Dharmi had made a registered will in favour of her husband Malkiat Singh Lally, therefore, on the basis of the will, he became an absolute owner of the property to the exclusion of his son and daughter. The Rent Controller declined the application for impleadment of legal representative on the ground that the eviction petition was filed seeking ejectment of the tenant on the ground of personal necessity by Smt. Dharmi. The order whereby permission to implead the legal representative was declined vide order dated 13.10.2008 and subsequently eviction petition was dismissed has now been challenged before this Court in five revision petitions.