GURDIAL BATRA Vs. SHRI RAJ KUMAR JAIN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS revision petition is directed against the judgment dated 10.9.1979 passed by the learned Appellate Authority, Jallandhur, under Section 15(5) of the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949 (for short 'the Act') allowing an appeal filed by the landlord-respondent and directing ejectment of the tenant-petitioner from the shop in dispute. The respondent filed an ejectment application under Section 13 of the Act stating that he is the landlord of the shop in dispute and that petitioner is a tenant under him at a monthly rent of Rs. 16/-. A rent note dated 16.6.1964 Ex.A-1 was duly executed by the petitioner who had taken the shop on rent for carrying on the business of repairs of cycles and rickshaws. The ejectment of the petitioner was sought inter alia on the ground that the petitioner had changed the user of the shop without the consent of the respondent by closing the business of cycle/rickshaw repairs and starting the business of television sets. He had also started the business of a property dealer in the demised shop. The application was opposed by the petitioner. He admitted that the shop was given to him on rent by the respondent for rickshaw/cycle repairs business but he stated that he was still carrying on the said business. As this business was not a paying one, he had started the business of television sets but that was eventually closed after six/seven months. It was therefore, maintained that there was no change in the user of the demised shop.

(2.) ON the pleadings of the parties, the learned Rent Controller framed inter alia the following issue :

(3.) I have heard the learned counsel for the parties. In fact, there is not much dispute on facts. The respondent in his reply to the ejectment application stated that he was still doing the cycle/rickshaw repair business in the shop in dispute. The business was dull and he could not make both ends meet and as such he started the T.V. business along with the cycle/rickshaw repair business. In his statement before the learned Rent Controller the petitioner stated that he started the business of T.Vs. side by side the original business of cycle repaires etc. The TV business was closed by him after doing the same for six/seven months in the demised premises. In cross-examination, he stated that he did not recollect if he had joint Ashok Kumar, Sarwan Kumar and Satnam Rani as partners in his T.V. business. He admitted that the licence for running the T.V. business as also the licence from the sales-tax department for the same were in his name. He stated that he did not remember if a partnership deed was executed with the aforesaid partners nor did he remember that the partnership was only for T.V. business. He admitted that he had taken the shop on rent for doing the business of cycle/rickshaw repairs only. Shri M.L. Batra Advocate RW-2 stated that he was appointed a Local Commissioner to visit the property in dispute and to report about the nature of the work being carried on in the demised premises. He visited the shop and made his report Ex.R-19. It has been stated therein that besides some cycle tyres, saddles, old cycles for repairs he saw one TV set lying in the show case inside the shop. This report has been discarded by the learned Appellate Authority on the ground that when the Local Commissioner visited the shop the tenant was already participating in the proceedings of the ejectment application and was thus aware of the impending visit of the Local Commissioner to the demised shop. It is further to be seen that the tenant in his own statement as RW-1 has deposed that the T.V. business was closed after six/seven months. Therefore, the mere fact that only one T.V. set was lying in the shop would not defect from the admission of the petitioner that in addition to the original user of the shop for cycle/rickshaw repairs he had started using the same for selling T.V. sets. Therefore, in my view, the report of the Local Commissioner Ex.R-19 has been rightly discarded by the learned Appellate Authority.