MATESHWAR DAYAL Vs. OM PARKASH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE shop in dispute was leased out to Geja Singh father of Om Parkash respondent on May 29, 1962 for a period of two months and after the expiry of that period he became a statutory tenant. Geja Singh died on February 18, 1974 after the enforcement of the Haryana Urban (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act, 1973 (hereinafter called the Haryana Rent Act). Alleging that the tenancy rights were not heritable under the Haryana Rent Act, the appellant filed this suit for possession of the said shop. The suit was dismissed holding the tenancy to be heritable and the decree of the trial court was affirmed on appeal by the learned Additional District Judge.

(2.) THE learned counsel for the appellant relying on a Single Bench decision of this Court in Daljit Singh and others v. Gurmukh Dass, RCR 1981(2) 246 : 1981(2) RLR 204 and Ganpat Ladha v. Sashikant Vishnu Shinde, 1978(2) RCR 187 : AIR 1978 SC 995 urged that by virtue of the definition of the tenant in the Haryana Rent Act, the tenancy rights of statutory tenant in the shop are not heritable. The learned counsel for the respondent on the other hand, contended that the provision of the Haryana Rent Act pertains to the domain of the succession of the tenancy rights and runs counter to the provisions of the Hindu Succession Act. As the succession is an item on the concurrent list, the law enacted by the Parliament must prevail and the law made by the legislature of the State to the extent it is repugnant to such law, would be void. The constitutionality of the provisions of the Haryana Rent Act having never been tested in the light of the point raised by the learned counsel for the respondent and the matter being of public importance, I referred the matter to a larger Bench. This is how this case has come us before us.

(3.) AS it is not disputed by the learned counsel for the respondents that the tenancy rights of Geja Singh deceased would not be protected under the Haryana Rent Act, the finding of the court below in this regard is hereby reversed.