(1.) The respondent in this petition filed an application under Section 14 of Jammu & Kashmir Houses and Shops Rent Control Act, 1966, (herein called the Act), before the Rent Controller, that is, the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar, for depositing the arrears of the rent for the period commencing from August, 20, 2008 to January, 2009 in lieu of the occupation of shop No. 3 measuring 11x20.6 feet situate at Tankipora, Srinagar, at a monthly rent of Rs. 450/-. In the said application, the respondent herein pleaded that he tendered the rent due to the landlord (petitioner herein) at the appropriate time, but he did not accept the same for the reasons best known to him. He has proceeded to state that on the 2nd of January, 2009, in yet another attempt, he tendered the rent to the petitioner herein through a money order, but the same was returned back and, therefore, he is facing difficulty in paying the rent to the landlord and seeks the assistance of the Court for its deposit. The learned Rent Controller issued notice to the petitioner herein for filing the objections. The petitioner filed the objections, stating therein that the application is not maintainable as the applicant/respondent herein has suppressed the material facts before this Court. He has not been paying the rent due to be paid despite requests, which forced and coerced him to serve a legal notice upon him through registered post for the payment of the arrears of the rent calculated at Rs. 2250/- upto November 2008 and the mense profits for holding the shop illegally. However, to his dismay, the respondent herein did not act upon the notice and continued to be in arrears of rent. He never offered the rent to him which constrained him to file a suit for eviction, permanent injunction, recovery of rent and mense profits on 18.12.2008 against him, which is subjudice in the Court of the learned City Munsiff, Srinagar. In the end, the petitioner herein has urged that the application under Section 14 of Houses and Shops Rent Control Act, be dismissed.
(2.) The Rent Controller did not find favour with the contentions of the petitioner herein as propounded by him in his objections and held that Section 14 of the Act, has a limited purpose. It provides a forum to the tenant who faces genuine difficulty in paying the rent to the landlord when the same is tendered to him. The question as to whether the tenant is holding the possession without payment of the rent or, whether he is in arrears and if so, what are its consequences are the questions that have to be decided in the civil proceedings and, accordingly, permitted the applicant (respondent herein) to deposit the rent for the period w.e.f. 20th August, 2008 to January, 2009 at the rate of Rs. 450/- per month amounting to Rs. 2700/- with respect to the shop with a further stipulation that the non-applicant, i.e., petitioner herein this petition shall be at liberty to withdraw the same.
(3.) Aggrieved by this order of the Rent Controller, the petitioner herein this petition filed an appeal in the Court of the learned 3rd Additional District Judge, Srinagar, and the learned 3rd Additional District Judge, Srinagar, came to the conclusion that the order of the Rent Controller is in line and in tune with the mandate of law laid down on the subject and, accordingly, dismissed the appeal.