SHANTI SARUP GUPTA Vs. GURDIAL SINGH DRIVER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is landlord's petition whose ejectment application was dismissed by both the authorities below.

(2.) The landlord sought the ejectment of his tenant Gurdial Singh from the tenanted premises which is a portion of the house. The ejectment was sought, inter alia, on the ground that the tenant was in arrears of rent with effect from 1st December, 1981 to 1st December, 1982. The rent was Rs. 20/- per month. The ejectment application was filed on 10th February, 1983. The stand taken by the tenant was that he had been paying the rent to Shri Shanti Sarup petitioner for some time and when he refused to accept the rent, he started deposting the same in the Bank under order of the Court in the name of the petitioner. He further pleaded that he deposited the rent for the period from 1.12.1981 to December, 1982 in the Bank and paid the rent for the period from 1.1.1983 to 31.3.1985 on the first date of hearing. The learned Rent Controller found that the tenant has proved the payment of arrears of rent due as the rent was deposited in the bank account of the landlord. Consequently, the ejectment application was dismissed vide order dated 15th March, 1988.

(3.) In appeal, the learned Appellate Authority affirmed the said findings of the Rent Controller and thus maintained the order of the Rent Controller rejecting the ejectment application. The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the deposit in the bank account in the name of the petitioner and his wife was not a valid payment or tender and, therefore, the view taken by the Rent Controller was wrong and illegal.