CHANDIA RAM Vs. B.K. KHANNA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a tenant's revision petition under Sec. 15 of the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act and arises out of ejectment proceedings.

(2.) The landlord applied under Sec. 13 of the Act for the ejectment of the tenant on the ground that he was in arrears of rent for over three years, that he had impaired the value and utility of the premises, and that he was guilty of acts constituting a nuisance to the neighbourhood.

(3.) The tenant opposed the application, alleging that he had been occupying the premises before the property had been purchased by the landlord, that the rent paid by him was Rs. 107.50 P. annually for the accommodation which consisted of two large rooms, one store, a kitchen and a latrine, and that on the acquisition of the property by the present landlord he attorned to him on the same rent upto March 31, 1967. He pleaded that in the year 1968 the landlord obtained possession of the premises for effecting repairs and had promised to return possession of the accommodation to the tenant after completing the repairs. The tenant alleged that after some alterations had been effected to the accommodation, the premises were let out to others without his knowledge and he was left with materially reduced accommodation. It was also alleged that when the landlord refused to restore possession of the original accommodation in its entirety, the parties settled on payment of Rs. 107.50 paise by way of rent for the reduced accommodation. The tenant pleaded further that although he sent rent to the landlord on that basis, it was not accepted and therefore he deposited the rent at that rate in the court of the Learned Senior Subordinate Judge, Simla.