MUNICIPAL COUNCIL Vs. MOHAN LAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This judgment shall dispose of six appeals bearing No. 3614 of 2007, 2547 of 2008, 2981 of 2008 , 3613, 3617, and 3618 of 2009, as common question of law and fact is involved in all these appeals. For facility of reference, facts are being taken from RSA No. 2547 of 2008.

(2.) As per the averments made in all these cases, the shops in dispute were owned by the plaintiff-respondents and the same were taken by them on rent in an open auction on monthly basis and they were paying the aforesaid monthly rent without any default. However, the plaintiffrespondents in all these cases received memos whereby they were asked to deposit arrears of enhanced rent. The aforesaid notices were duly replied and the plaintiff-respondents kept on making the payment of rent at the old initial rate. Thereafter, the appellant refused to accept the rent and filed petitions for eviction of the plaintiff- respondents under the Haryana Public Premises Act, 1972. Another notice was sent by the appellant directing the plaintiff-respondents to pay the rent upto 7th of every month failing which penalty of Rs. 50/- per day was to be charged.

(3.) Aggrieved against the aforesaid action, plaintiff-respondents filed these suits for declaration with consequential relief of permanent injunction to the effect that they were the tenants over the shops in dispute as per the original lease and the enhanced rent has neither ever been settled nor agreed by them and they were not liable to pay the rent of demised shops at the enhanced rate and as such the notices issued by the appellant were illegal and not binding upon them. A prayer for mandatory injunction was also made directing the appellant to accept the rent of the demised shops at the initial rate with consequential relief of permanent injunction restraining the appellant from illegally and forcibly dispossessing the plaintiff-respondents from the suit property except in due course of law.