M S OBEROI Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS petition under Arts, 227 and 228 of the Constitution of India is directed against the order of the District Judge, Chandigarh, dated July 30, 1969, dismissing the application of the petitioner under Section 113 of the Code of Civil procedure for reference of the case to this Court on the ground that questions relating to the interpretation of the Constitution were involved.

(2.) THE petitioner took on lease the premises of the Mount View Hotel with its appurtenances from the Punjab Government on September 24, 1958. The original lease was for a period of three years which could be' renewed on the same terms and conditions for another period of three years. The petitioner has been running the hotel in these premises ever since. On August 27, 1959, the Punjab government offered to sell the said hotel to the petitioner at a price of Rs. 12/lacs. The petitioner did not accept the said offer which was withdrawn. Since the period of six years of lease had expired, the Government called upon the petitioner to hand over the vacant possession of the premises on or before January 1, 1960. The petitioner did not vacate the premises and a show-cause notice under Section 4 of the Punjab Public Premises and Land (Eviction and Rent Recovery) Act, 1959 (hereinafter called the Punjab Act) was issued to the petitioner on January 1, 1960, and thus eviction proceedings were started. The petitioner filed a writ petition in this Court challenging the validity of the said Act and the notice issued thereunder. A Full Bench of this Court heard the writ petition and dismissed it. The judgment is reported in the Northern India Caterers Pvt. Ltd. v. State of Punjab, ilr 1963 (1) Punj 761. The petitioner went up in appeal to the Supreme Court which was accepted and the eviction proceedings were set aside. Section 5 of the said Act was held to be ultra vires being discriminatory and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. Their Lordships of the Supreme Court delivered the judgment on April 4, 1967, and it is reported as Northern India Caterers (P) Ltd. v. State of Punjab, AIR 1967 SC 1581.

(3.) CHANDIGARH became Union territory with effect from November 1, 1966 and fresh proceedings for the ejectment of the petitioner from the premises were started under Sections 4 and 5 of the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised occupants) Act, 1958, (hereinafter called the Central Act) by the Estate Officer, union Territory, Chandigarh, by issuing a show-cause notice to the petitioner on november 18, 1968. The said Act applied to the premises as it became the property of the Central Government with effect from November 1, 1966. Another notice under Section 7 of the said Act for the recovery of damages to the extent of rs. 1,28,000 was also issued to the petitioner on the same day. The Manager of the Hotel with his counsel filed replies and also produced a copy of the letter received from the Finance Secretary, Chandigarh Administration, wherein an enquiry was made from the petitioner whether he was willing to purchase the mount View Hotel building for Rs. 12/- lacs plus interest at the rate of 6 per cent per annum on the purchase price from the date 'of the Government's earlier offer made in August, 1959, upto the date of payment of the price. The petitioner accepted this offer by letter dated June 23, 1967, on condition that the interest should be calculated in accordance with the rules of the Capital Project. Ultimately the Capital Control Board in its meeting held on July 3, 1967, considered the matter and decided to sell the premises to the petitioner on the following terms: