SALVO FURNITURE Vs. KARTAR SINGH DHILLON

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This order shall dispose of two petitions bearing C.R. No. 2117 of 2012 & C.R. No. 2118 of 2012. Both the petitions emanate from the orders of the Appellate Authority, Chandigarh of even date dated 14.03.2012 whereby mesne profits of the premises in question bearing SCO No. 20, Madhya Marg, Sector 26, Chandigarh have been determined at Rs. 3,00,000/- for the ground floor in C.R. No. 2117 of 2012 and a sum of Rs. 75,000/- for the basement of the said premises in C.R. No. 2118 of 2012 during the pendency of the appeals and the tenant has been directed to make these payments from the date of the ejectment order, i.e., 31.10.2011. The ejectment applications were filed by the respondent-landlord under Section 13 of the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction (Extension to Chandigarh) Act, 1974 for eviction of the tenant from the ground-floor and basement of SCO No. 20, Madhya Marg, Sector 26, Chandigarh. The ground-floor of the said premises had been let out in the year 1977 at a monthly rent of Rs. 3,350/- and the amount of rent has been enhanced to Rs. 5,000/-. Similarly, for the basement, the premises had been taken on rent in the year 1981 at a monthly rent of Rs. 1,300/- which was enhanced to Rs. 2,200/- per month and accordingly, total rent payable was Rs. 7,200/- for the premises in question. The premises were required for the bona fide use and occupation of the son of the landlord and the 2nd floor was also used by the son but his business did not flourish and in the year 1999, landlord No. 1 had started the business of Gym on the 2nd floor but the said floor was not suitable for the said business, and therefore, the said business had to be stopped. The ejectment application was allowed by the Rent Controller on 31.10.2011 and accordingly, the appeals came to be filed before the Appellate Authority, Chandigarh.

(2.) Before the Appellate Authority, applications were filed for assessment of mesne profits for the premises in question and on the strength of the judgment of Hon'ble Apex Court in M/s Atma Ram Properties (P) Ltd v. Federal Motors (P) Ltd., 2005 1 SCC 705 & Anderson Wright & Co. v. Amar Nath Roy and others, 2005 6 SCC 489 that the contractual rate of rent had to come to an end after the eviction order and the premises in question was situated in the heart of the city and were on the Madhya Marg, the road dividing the City and therefore, was a hub of major eating places and restaurants and was pulsating with activities and was one of the most expensive areas, and therefore, rent of Rs. 5,00,000/- should be paid for the ground floor. Similar application regarding the basement was also filed in which it was pleaded that the rent of the entire basement should be Rs. 1,50,000/-. In the said application, a list of as many as 10 commercial shops were mentioned which were located on the said road starting from Sector 7, Chandigarh to Sector 26 which is on the same street. The said applications were resisted by filing replies which was mainly devoted to the merits of the case regarding the genuineness and bona fide requirement of the landlord and his son who was an Advocate.

(3.) Keeping in view the pleadings of the parties, the Appellate Authority allowed the application of the landlord and directed that the tenant was liable to pay mesne profits @ Rs. 3,00,000/- per month from the order of eviction and further, he would continue to make payment by the 10th of every month. The operation of the eviction order would remain stayed subject to the said payments. The landlord was, however, not entitled to withdraw these amounts of mesne profits except the rate of rent which the petitioner-tenant was paying and the balance was to remain lying with the Rent Controller. Similarly, in the case pertaining to the basement, the rate of mesne profits was assessed @ Rs. 70,000/- per month against the claim of Rs. 1,50,000/- and accordingly, the applications were disposed of after taking into consideration the lease deed of SCO No. 14, Sector 26, Chandigarh to notice that the rent was Rs. 5,77,500/- per month with increase of 10% per year and the lease deed of SCO No. 30, Sector, 26, Madhya Marg, Chandigarh that the rate of rent was more than Rs. 5 lacs and that the tenant had failed to place on record any lease deed controverting the contention of the landlord. Resultantly, the present 2 revision petitions have been filed challenging the said orders.