SIKENDER PAL JAIN Vs. S GURCHARAN SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS civil second appeal, which should have been normally heard by a Single Judge, has been referred to this Bench, for reconsidering the correctness of a Single Bench judgment of this court in Dewan Chand Versus Davinder Kumar and others, 1971 K. L. J. 325. The reference has arisen in the following circumstances.

(2.) THE appellant brought a suit for ejectment against the respondent under the provisions of the Jammu & Kashmir Houses and Shops Rent Control Act, 1966 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) on the ground of three defaults in payment of rent Within a period of 18 months, and annoyance caused by him to the appellant and to his neighbours. This suit was resisted by the respondent on the grounds: that he had neither committed any default in payment of rent, nor caused any annoyance to the appellant or to his neighbours, and further, that the notice for ejectment served upon him by the appellant was not in accordance with law.

(3.) THE trial court, on the authority of the judgment given by this court in Dewan Chands case (Supra) dismissed the suit as premature, without recording its finding on the issues relating to annoyance and validity of the notice for ejectment. An appeal was taken by the appellant against this judgment, and the lower appellate court upheld the finding of the trial court on the concession of the learned counsel for the appellant that three successive defaults in payment of rent as alleged by the appellant in his plaint were not proved, but being of the view that even one default could entitle the appellant to obtain a decree for ejectment under Cl. (i) of Sec. 11 of the Act, over -set the judgment of the trial court and remanded the case back to it to decide it afresh keeping in view the effect of a single default in payment of rent, with a further direction to record its finding on the issues which it had previously left undecided.