(1.) Defendant is the petitioner. A suit for eviction from building was filed by the opposite party-plaintiff on the ground of non-payment of rent from Aug. 1978. The suit was contested by the petitioner. He, inter alia, denied the relationship of landlord and tenant. According to the plaint the rent was payable at the rate of Rs. 2/- per day, whereas according to the written statement the rent was at the rate of Rs. 50/- per month payable by the petitioner to the landlord, Faruque Azam. An application was filed by the opposite party under S.13 of the Bihar Buildings (Lease, Rent and Eviction) Control Act, 1977 (the Act) for a direction on the petitioner to deposit the arrear as well as current rent month by month. It was contested by the petitioner. The court below by order dt 16-4-1980 allowed the prayer of the opposite party. That order is impugned in this application.
(2.) The case was listed for hearing on 22-12-1980 before a learned Single Judge, who ordered that the case be placed for hearing before a Division Bench.
(3.) Mr. S. B. Sinha, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner, challenged the validity of the order on the ground that as according to the averment in the plaint the petitioner was to pay rent at the rate of Rs. 2/- per day, he was not a tenant from month to month and the section, therefore, is not attracted. According to the plaint the petitioner was to pay Rs. 2/- per day as rent according to the English calendar month. The mode of payment was monthly but the rent was to be calculated at the rate of Rs. 2/- per day. The question that arises is whether in these facts a direction under S.13 of the Act could have been given by the court below.