SUNDER SINGH Vs. BUDH DEV

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This civil revision is directed against an order, dated 8-2-1968, of the Appellate Authority (District and Sessions Judge, Jullundur) whereby he refused to interfere in appeal against an order, dated 6.2 1967 of the Rent Controller, Jullundur by which the lotter had stayed proceedings in an application under section 13 of the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, III of 1949 (hereinafter called the Act), pending before him, till the decision of the question of title in a suit inter parties pending before the Senior Subordinate Judge, Jullundur.

(2.) Two points have been canvassed before me by the learned counsel for the petitioner, namely, (1) that the Appellate Authority has wrongly held that the order, dated 6-2-1967, of the Rent Controller was not appealable, and (2) that even if the order of the Rent Controller was not appealable, it was prima facie illegal and could be set aside by this Court, in revision.

(3.) As regards the first contention, it may be noted that section 15(1)(a) of the Act gives the State Government power to confer by notification on such officers and authorities, as it may think fit, the powers of appellate authorities for the purposes of this Act in a particular area and in a particular class of cases as the Government may specify in the order. An analogous provision existed in the Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1947. In exercise of those powers, Punjab Government issued Notification No. 1562-Cr-47/9228, dated 18-4-1947, whereby it constituted all District and Sessions Judges in the Punjab in their respective jurisdiction, Appellate Authorities for the purposes of the Rent Act with regard to orders made by the Rent Controllers under sections 4, 10, 12 and 13 of the said Act. The Rent Act 1947 was repealed by section 21 of the Act of 1949, but the notification continued to be in force by virtue of section 22 of the Punjab General Clauses Act, 1898. (See the dictum of Shamsher Bahadur, J. in Lakhi Ram v. Sagar Chand, 1963 65 PunLR 691).