(1.) This is a civil revision directed against the judgment of the learned Appellate Authority, Ludhiana, vide which the appeal of the respondent (hereinafter referred to as the landlord) challenging the dismissal of his application for eviction of the petitioner (hereinafter referred to as the tenant) under section 13(1) of the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949 (hereinafter referred of as the Act) by the learned Rent Controller, Ludhiana, was accepted.
(2.) The facts of the case are that the tenant had taken on rent the premises in dispute situated in the locality of Miller Ganj in the town of Ludhiana on June, 10, 1951, vide rent note Exhibit A-12 on a monthly rent of Rs. 30/- for installation of a factory. The landlord approached the Rent Controller, Ludhiana, in this case on February 6, 1970, for the eviction of the tenant mainly on four grounds. The first ground was that the tenant had not paid the rent of the premises since March, 1969, and that he had also not paid the house-tax of the demised premises for the past ten years. The second ground was that the tenant had sub-let the premises to Ramesh Chander and Mukhtiar Singh. The third ground was that the tenant had made structural changes, which had materially impaired the utility of the rented premises. The fourth ground, about which the landlord was not serious, was that the building has become unfit and unsafe for human habitation.
(3.) The tenant admitted the tenancy but denied the rest of the contentions. The sub-tenancy was specifically denied and it was stated that Ramesh Chander was an employee of R.N. Gupta and Mukhtiar Singh was his employee. The rent was paid on the first date of hearing, which was accepted by the landlord under protest. The parties went to trial on the following issues :-