Civil Appeal No 140 of 1979
Appeal by Special Leave from the Judgment and Order dated 8 12 1978 of the Kerala High Court in CRP No 345078
P Govindan Nair Sardar Bahadur Saharya Vishnu Bahadur Saharya and Mrs Baby Krishnan for the Appellant T section Krishnamurthy Iyer A section Nambiyar and P Parmeswaran for the Respondent
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by CHINNAPPA REDDY J
The respondent landlord filed a petition for eviction of the appellant tenant from the premises in dispute under section 114i of the Kerala Buildings Lease and Rent Control Act No II of 1965 on the ground that the appellant had sub let the premises without the consent of the landlord
The petition had a chequered career but finally the Rent Controller ordered eviction by his order dated July 31 1974
The order of the Rent Controller was confirmed successively by the Subordinate Judge the District Judge and the High Court
The tenant has now preferred this appeal by special leave of this Court under Art 136 of the Constitution
Shri Govindan Nair learned counsel for the appellant submitted that under section 108j of the  it was a term of every lease that the lessee might sub lease the whole or any part of his interest in the property and therefore unless the lease expressly prohibited the lessee from sub letting the whole or part of the premises the landlord could not have recourse to section 114i of the Kerala Buildings Lease and Rent Control Act
In order to appreciate the submission of Shri Govindan Nair we may set out the relevant statutory provisions
section 108j of the  is as follows 108
In the absence of a contract or local usage to the contrary the lessor and the lessee of the immovable property as against one another respectively possess the rights and are 141 subject to the liabilities mentioned in the rules next following or such of them as are applicable to the property leased  A Rights and liabilities of the lessor a X X X X X X X X X b X X X X X X X X X c X X X X X X X X X B Rights and liabilities of the lessee d X X X X X X X X X e X X X X X X X X X f X X X X X X X X X g X X X X X X X X X h X X X X X X X X X i X X X X X X X X X j the lessee may transfer absolutely or by way of mortgage or sub lease the whole or any part of his interest in the property and any transferee of such interest or part may again transfer it
The lessee shall not by reason only of such transfer cease to be subject to any of the liabilities attaching to the lease X X X X X X X X X section 11 of the Kerala Buildings Lease and Rent Control Act No II of 1965 to the extent that it is relevant is as follows 111 Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other law or contract a tenant shall not be evicted whether in execution of a decree or otherwise except in accordance with the provisions of this Act Provided that   
Provided further that   2 X X X X X X X X X 3 X X X X X X X X X 4 A landlord may apply to the Rent Control Court for an order directing the tenant to put the landlord in possession of the building i if the tenant after the commencement of this Act without the consent of the landlord transfers his right under the lease or sub lets the entire building or any portion thereof if the lease does not confer on him any right to do so
The submission of Shri Govindan Nair was that if the lease did not expressly prohibit sub letting the provision in section 108j of the which enabled a lessee to sub lease the whole or any part of his interest in the property had necessarily to 142 be read into every lease as one of its terms and so read it followed that the lease conferred on the tenant the right to sub let the entire building or any portion thereof so as to disentitle the landlord from seeking eviction of the tenant under section 114i of the Kerala Act
We are unable to agree with this submission
Read plainly and without gloss section 114i simply and clearly means that a tenant may be evicted on the ground of sub letting unless such sub letting is permitted by a term of the lease itself or by subsequent consent of the landlord
What is necessary is an application of the mind and the resulting consensus between the landlord and the tenant
If the clause if the lease does not confer on him any right to do so was not there in section 114i the position would be unarguable that section 108j would offer no protection
That much was also conceded by Shri Govindan Nair
In our opinion the addition of the clause did not improve matters for the tenant
It only clarified matters to this extent that the right to sublet could be conferred on the tenant either at the time of the lease or subsequently but it had to be conferred it could not be claimed unilaterally by the tenant
To interpret section 114i in the manner suggested by Shri Govindan Nair would be to rewrite the provision as follows if the tenant      without the consent of the landlord transfers his right under the lease or sublets the entire building or any portion thereof though prohibited by lease from doing so
That we are not called upon to do
A little thought over the reason for section 11 4i will also throw some light
Quite obviously the legislature thought that the tenant whose tenancy was well secured and protected by the rights conferred by the Buildings Lease and Rent Control Act should alone be entitled to such security and protection and that the tenant should not be allowed to profit by the protection given to him by subletting the premises and extending the protection to others besides himself unless the landlord by his act agreed to such a course
Where the landlord had himself agreed that the tenant could sublet the question would not arise
Therefore section 11 4i provides that subletting shall be a ground for eviction but not if it was by agreement of the landlord
In V Dhanapal Chettiar vs Yesodai Ammal1 a Bench of seven judges of this Court had to consider the question whether notice under section 106 of the determining the lease was necessary before a landlord could move Rent Controller or other appropriate authority for the eviction of the tenant under the various State Rent Acts
The Court held that it was not necessary and Untwalia J speaking for the Court said 143 Section 108 deals with the rights and liabilities of lessors and lessees
Many State Rent Acts have brought about considerable changes in the rights and liabilities of a lessor and a lessee largely in favour of the latter although not wholly
The topic of Transfer of Property other than agricultural land is covered by Entry 6 of List III in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution
The subject being in the concurrent list many State Rent Acts have by necessary implication and many of them by starting certain provisions with a non obstante clause have done away with the law engrafted in section 108 of the except in regard to any matter which is not provided for in the State Act either expressly or by necessary implication
Later he said But when under the various State Rent Acts either in one language or the other it has been provided that a tenant can be evicted on the grounds mentioned in certain sections of the said Acts then how does the question of determination of a tenancy by notice arise If the State Rent Act requires the giving of a particular type of notice in order to get a particular kind of relief such a notice will have to be given
Or it may be that a landlord will be well advised by way of abundant precaution and in order to lend additional support to his case to give a notice to his tenant intimating that he intended to file a suit against him for his eviction on the ground mentioned in the notice
But that is not to say that such a notice is compulsory or obligatory or that it must fulfill all the technical requirements of section 106 of the 
It is clear from what has been said that not all the rights conferred on landlord and tenant by section 108 and other provisions of the have been left in tact by the various State Rent Acts and that if a State Rent Act makes provision for eviction on certain specified grounds eviction cannot be resisted on the basis of rights conferred by the 
Section 108j of the stands displaced by section 114i of the Kerala Buildings Lease and Rent Control Act and is no defence to an action for eviction based on section 114i
We are satisfied that the appeal is without merit and is accordingly dismissed with costs
PBR Appeal dismissed


Summary:
On the ground that the tenant had sublet the premises without his consent the landlord sought the tenant s eviction from the premises under section 114i of the Kerala Buildings Lease and Rent Control Act 1965
The Rent Controller ordered eviction and this order was affirmed by the Subordinate Judge District Judge and the High Court
Before this Court it was contended on behalf of the tenant that under section 108j of the  it was a term of every lease that the lessee might sublease the whole or any part of his interest in the property and therefore unless the lease expressly prohibited the lessee from sub letting the whole or part of the premises the landlord could not have recourse to section 114i of the Act
Dismissing the appeal  HELD What section 114i of the Act provides is that sub letting shall be a ground for eviction but not if it was by agreement of the landlord
142G 1a What section 114i means is that a tenant may be evicted on the ground of sub letting unless such sub letting is permitted by a term of the lease itself or by subsequent consent of the landlord
If the clause if the lease does not confer on him any right to do so was not there the position would be unarguable that section 108j of the would offer no protection
But the addition of the clause only clarified that the right to sublet could be conferred on the tenant either at the time of the lease or subsequently but it had to be conferred it could not be claimed unilaterally by the tenant
142B D b Quite obviously the legislature thought that the tenant whose tenancy was well secured and protected by the rights conferred by the Act should alone be entitled to such security and protection and that the tenant should not be allowed to profit by the protection given to him by subletting the premises and extending the protection to others beside himself unless the landlord by his act agreed to such a course
142F 2
It is well settled law that not all the rights conferred on the landlord and tenant by section 108 and other provisions of the have been left intact by the various State Rent Acts and that if a State Rent 140 Act makes provision for eviction on certain specified grounds eviction cannot be resisted on the basis of rights conferred by the 
Section 108j stands displaced by section 114i of the Act and is no defence to an action for eviction based on this section
143G V Dhanapal Chettiar vs Yesodai Ammal   1747  referred to