RAMJILAL Vs. RAMKISHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN view of the importance of the question of law involved in the case, a learned Single Judge of this Court referred it to a larger Bench. The reference has been entrusted to us for disposal.

(2.) THE facts which lead to this reference can be briefly stated as follows: Ramjilal plaintiff had a shop in the town of Hindaun. According to him, it was newly constructed on 23-4-1959. THE said shop was rented out to Ramkishan defendant on 14-9-1962 on a monthly rent of Rs. 50/ -. After some time, Ramjilal needed the shop for his son who wanted to start dry cleaning business and with a view to evict the tenant he determined the tenancy by a notice which was served on Ramkishan on 29-6-1964. On his failure to surrender possession, a suit for ejectment and for arrears of rent was instituted by Ramjilal against the tenant in the court of Munsiff, Hindaun on 27-8-1964.

(3.) UNDER sec. 3 of that Act, the Government has been empowered to exempt any particular building or rented land or any class of buildings or rented lands from all or any of the provisions of the Act. Pursuant to this power, the State Government was notifying exemptions from time to time. The first notification, it appears, came to be issued on 8-3-1951 which exempted buildings constructed in 1951 and 1952 from the provisions of the Act for a period of five years with effect from the date of completion of any such building. Thereafter followed several notifications which exempted buildings constructed in each of the years from 1952 to 1965. The notification with which the Punjab case was concerned was issued on 30-7-1965 and was in the following terms: In exercise of the powers conferred by sec. 3 of the Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949 and all other powers enabling him in this behalf the Governor of Punjab is pleased to direct that the provisions of sec. 13 of the said Act shall not apply in respect of decrees for ejectment of tenants in possession of building which satisfy the following conditions namely - (a) Buildings constructed during the years 1959, 1960, 1961. 1962 and 1963 are exempted from all the provisions of the said Act for a period of five years to be calculated from the dates of their completion, and (b) During the aforesaid period of exemption suits for ejectment of tenants in possession of those buildings were of are instituted in civil courts by the landlords against the tenants and decrees of ejectment were or are passed. "