ivil Appeal No 3378 of 1983 From the Judgment and Order dated 2131983 of the Delhi High Court in CR No 1047 of 1981
Dr Shanker Ghosh and HK Puri for the Appellant
SN Kacker Arvind Minocha and Mrs Veena Minocha for the Respondents
SABYASACHI MUKHARJI J This appeal by special leave arises out of the order of the High Court of Delhi dated 2 1st March 1983
On or about 3rd January 1977 the landlady the re spondent herein had filed a petition for eviction of the appellant the tenant from the first floor of the premises situated at C 62 Maharani Bagh New Delhi along with a garage on the ground floor with a servant quarter above the garage as per the plan annexed with the petition  hereinaf ter referred to as the disputed flat
The ground of evic tion was the bona fide personal necessity of the landlady
The premises had been let out on a monthly rent of Rs950 and Rs50 per month as facility for booster pump totalling to Rs1000 per month exclusive of water and electricity charges
The respondent claimed to be the owner of the premises and stated that she required the premises for her residence and
for the residence of the members of her family and further she was not in possession of any other suitable residential accommodation
She was at the time of filing of the petition living according to her as a guest of her niece in her house in D 36 Nizammuddin East New Delhi
She 278 had asserted that she could not continue residing there permanently or indefinitely and that the accommodation with her niece was limited being only two bed rooms with a common bath room and that her niece wanted her own mother to stay with her and would like the landlady to shift as soon as respondent could
It was further averred that the niece of the respondent landlady was a working woman and for meeting her clients she needed accommodation as she was at all relevant time working as an executive in an advertising agency
It was also stated that the landlady was a social worker and had her own sphere of activities
There were two flats in the building in question
The landlady according to her needed one floor to let out one of the floors of that building to have income to support herself which according to her was her only source of livelihood and the ground floor of the premises at the time of the filing of the petition was in occupation of New Zealand Embassy at Rs2500 per month as rent
It was her case that she wanted to keep the ground floor let out to a tenant to draw a decent amount of rent and the only premises left for her residence was therefore the premises the disputed flat
The learned single judge of the Delhi High Court in the order under appeal has stated that on 14th March 1974 the landlady had earlier also filed on eviction application against Ms Jaaj Timber Products P Ltd on the ground that the said company was her tenant of the first floor of the suit premises and it was required for her residence
In the earlier petition a written statement was filed by the tenant appellant who was the Managing Director of that company
The landlady had also on 17th April 1976 filed a suit for recovery of Rs35000 as arrears of rent for the period 1st May 1973 to 31st March 1976
But in both the earlier eviction petition and the suit for the recovery of rent the aforesaid company took up the position that the company was not a tenant but the appellant alone was the tenant and this contention of the appellant was upheld by judgment of the learned Additional District Juge Delhi dated 1st November 1976 and it was found that the appellant alone was a tenant in his individual capacity
This fact was relevant only from one point of view namely the argument that the appellant was a troublesome tenant
This is noted for this purpose because a contention was advanced by Shri Kacker learned counsel appearing for the respondent here in in support of his contention that in judging the bona fide and reasonableness of the requirement of the landlord the conduct of the tenant is a relevant factor to be borne in mind
To continue with a narration of events however it has to be noted that the earlier eviction petition was dismissed though a decree
for Rs34050 for rent with proportionate costs was passed against the 279 appellant herein
But the suit against the company was dismissed
It would be necessary to complete the narration of events by stating that in the subsequent affidavit dated 27th October 1986 filed by the appellant herein before us with our permission during the hearing of this appeal it was brought to our notice that the appeal was filed in January 1977 when the ground floor of the premises had been let out to the New Zealand Embassy
New Zealand Embassy vacated the premises in July 1977 and the same was relet by the landlady the respondent herein to one Shri GN Dalmia on 27th July 1977 at a higher rent Shri Dalmia in his turn had again vacated the premises in July 1979 and the prem ises was let out again by the landlady at a still higher rent Ms Indian Express Newspaper Private Limited
It was stated that Ms Indian Express Newspapers Private Limited had vacated and thereafter the same was let out to one Shri Pradeep Kumar Ganeriwal at a still higher rent in April 1985
There were allegations made saying that initially it was occupied by one Shri Mulgaokar and then Shri Nihal Singh and then Shri Ganeriwal
These were controverted by an affidavit filed by the respondent landlady on 30th October 1986
According to her Indian Express was the lessee but the others were the officers or the executives of the Indian Express and as such were allowed to occupy the premises in question
But to revert back to the events leading to the present appeal it must be noted that the earlier petition for eviction was dated 1st November 1976 and the present peti tion was filed on 3rd January 1977 against the tenant appellant
The appellant had filed a written statement before the Trial Court and admitted the relationship between the parties and had also admitted that the respondent was also the owner of the premises
It was contended however that the premises were not taken for residential purposes and there was no mention of the members of the family of the landlady
It was denied that the landlady was not in posses sion of suitable alternative accommodation
It was asserted that she was alone and preferred to live with her niece who was alone and that the petition for eviction was not bona fide and was mala fide and in fact the landlady only wanted to increase the rent for which the tenant appellant was not prepared
There was some allegation about the alleged at tempt to increase the rent from Rs1500 to Rs2500 and it was stated that in the earlier petition which was against Ms Jaaj Timber Products Pvt Ltd the landlady had stated that she did not have any residential accommodation and was putting up as a temporary guest at a premises at Pandara Road New Delhi and it was not made clear as to why she did not occupy the 280 portion which was in occupation previously of the New Zea land Embassy after it was vacated and she had stated that she needed one floor to draw income to support herself
It was pleaded that the landlady was an old and rich lady and had huge bank balances and did not have to depend upon the rentals of the house only
The respondent s son was an officer in the Indian Foreign Service and was posted in New Delhi since 1976 and living at the External Affairs Hostel and the landlady would normally like to stay in her old age with her only son
She could not afford to live alone in such a big house according to the appellant and the story of the niece wanting to stay with her old mother and the need of the niece for her mother s occupation was not a true story
In the trial before the Additional Rent Controller the landlady examined her son and also examined herself and gave details of the various places where she had lived from 1958 till the filing of the present petition
It is not necessary for our present purpose to refer in detail to the said depositions
The landlady had at one point of time lived at the Indian Council for Child Welfare Ladies Hostel at 4 Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg New Delhi and the requirement for her flat there upto her assignment with Indian Council for Child Welfare which ended in May 1970 and in May 1970 the respondent landlady went to Aligarh and stayed there till March 1971 as she had no place to live in Delhi
From March 1971 to July 1974 she had lived at Pandata Road as a guest of one Mrs Gufran and her niece Miss Shahila Haider had also lived there as a guest of Mrs Gufran
Mrs Gufran went away to USA and the premises was surrendered to Directorate of Estate
On 1st July 1974 the landlady shifted to Nizammuddin in New Delhi along with Miss Shahila Haider who took the premises on rent
The landlady respond ent was a graduate from the Leads University and her father was a leading lawyer who was pioneer in women education in India
She founded Women s College in Aligarh University
The husband of the landlady was the Manager of Reserve Bank of India
The landlady was connected with various organisa tions such as YWCA All India Women s Conference Indian Council for Child Welfare and some such other organisations
One Mrs Vinita Nagar proved various documents to show association with the Social Welfare Advisory Board and at the relevant time when the deposition was being taken she was staying at 5 A Artand Lok New Delhi with one Suleman Haider who was then Ambassador to Bhutan
Her son was also examined and she stated that he joined the Indian Foreign Service in July 1964 and was in Jordan
It is also stated that during the period January 1969 to August 1973 he was in Poland 281 and again on short leave he stayed in External Affairs Hostel when his mother respondent stayed at Pandara Road
The son was posted at Quater
It is not necessary to discuss in detail all these
The landlady respondent herein comes from a fairly well to do family
She has house income and she has bank balances
The learned trial court also found that the landlady had one daughter who was married in Delhi and landlady was a social worker and worked for number of institutions and had large social circle
She comes from a respectable family and a family of high status
The learned trial judge was of the view that she requires additional accommodation
It was also found that somehow the habits and taste of her niece Miss Shahila Haider and the landlady differed and she had no other reasonably suitable accommoda tion in Delhi
It is this second aspect which is the impor tant question in this appeal which will have to be consid ered herein
The question as to why the landlady did not occupy the ground floor premises which was vacated and relet in 1974 and 1977 at a Higher rent was also considered by the learned trial Court
It was found that the landlady needed money for her sustenance and maintenance and she had no other source of income and therefore it was held that she would naturally like to let one portion of the house
The house consisted of two portions the ground floor and the first floor
The ground floor portion was not preferred by the landlady as it fetched a higher rent as compare to first floor of the premises
It was also found that funds were required even for payment of house tax and other charges
Therefore the trial court was of the view that the landlady must have some income
The trial court was also of the view that it was landlady s choice to occupy the first floor premises and there was no mala fide her requirement was bona fide
Being aggrieved by the said decision the appellant moved in revision before the High Court and the question was examined
It was pleaded before the High Court on behalf of the appellant that the respondent had only one son and that she should live with him
So far as the requirement being bona fide was concerned the learned High Court examined the evidence and found that the appraisal and analysis of the evidence by the trial court were correct
The High Court therefore found no reason to differ from the Additional Rent Controller that landlady had no other reasonably suit able accommodation and the landlady was in need of the accommodation in question bona fide and reasonably
It was further found that there was no mala fide on her part in letting out the premises in question when it fell vacant as mentioned hereinbefore
It was further held that there was no ques 282 tion of financial difficulty being an afterthought as the previous petition was dismissed on the ground that there was no relationship between the landlord and the tenant between the parties in that case Therefore under section 141e of Delhi Rent Control Act 1958 hereinafter called the Act  eviction was upheld
In the premises the revision was dismissed and the decree for eviction was upheld
The appellant challenges this decision
The appellant contends that on the undisputed facts of this case under section 141e of the Act the landlady was not entitled to eviction
Section 14 of the said Act gives protection to the tenant against eviction and stipulates that no order or decree for the recovery of possession of any premises shall be made by any court in favour of the landlord against a tenant
Proviso to sub section 1 of the section 14 pro vides that the Controller may on an application made to him in the prescribed manner make an order for recovery of possession of the premises on one or more of the various grounds mentioned in different sub clauses of section 141 and sub section e is to the following effect e that the premises let for residential purposes are required bona fide by the land lord for occupation as a residence for himself or for any member of his family dependent on him if he is the owner thereof or for any person for whose benefit the premises are held and that the landlord or such person has no other reasonably suitable residential accommo dation The contention of the appellant is that the landlady in this case had other reasonably suitable accommodation and by her own conduct had disentitled herself of the user of the same Therefore the landlady cannot contend that she had no other reasonably suitable accommodation
In support of this contention reliance was placed by the appellant on a deci sion of this Court in Pasupuleti Venkateswarlu vs The Motor  General Traders  The case was under Andhra Pradesh Buildings Lease Rent and Eviction Control Act 1960 and was dealing with the provisions of section 103iiia  b of that Act
The Court held that the court was entitled to take subsequent facts into considera tion in a case of this nature
At pages 959 60 of the re port this Court set out the findings of the learned trial court where it was observed If the fact of the landlord having come into possession during the pendency of the proceed ings of Shop No 2 is to 283 be taken into account as indeed it must be then clearly the petition is no longer main tainable under Section 103iii of the Act as the requisite condition for the invoking of that provision has ceased to exist viz that the landlord was not occupying a non residen tial building in the town Building  of course means a portion of a building
As the prerequisite for the entitlement of the peti tioner to institute and continue a petition has ceased to exist it must follow that ABA No51967 is no longer maintainable and must be dismissed This Court upheld that finding
This Court affirmed the proposition that for making the right or remedy claimed by the party just and meaningful as also legal and factual in accord with the current realities the court could and in many cases must take cautious cognizance of events and developments subsequent to the institution of the proceed ings provided rules of fairness to both the sides were scrupulously obeyed
In the instant case there is no ques tion of violation of any principle of rules of natural justice
If cognizance are taken of events and developments subsequent to the initiation of proceedings it must
be held that the landlady had the opportunity of occupying a floor in the house which fell vacant not once but twice subsequent to arising of her need for reasonable accommoda tion
She chose not to occupy the said premises
The landla dy asserts that she must have means to live before she can utilise her living space to live
The landlady asserts that in order to have her means to live she must let one floor on rent
According to her that is the only source of her income
But it is not clear from the learned Rent Control ler s findings or the High Court adjudication whether the huge bank balances alleged to belong to the landlady yield any income or not or is insufficient income for her to live
Therefore for the purpose of this appeal we must proceed on the assumption that the landlady needed money to live and the income from her house letting was a source of her in come
But the question is is it a sufficient ground which will bring her out from the second limb of the conditions imposed by section 141e of the Act There is no dispute that subsequent events can be taken into consideration
There is no dispute that administration of justice demands that any changes either in fact or in law must be taken cognizance of by the court but that must be done in a cau tious manner of relevant facts
Hasmat Rai  Anr
vs Raghunath Prasad 1981 3 SCR 605 which was a case under Madhya Pradesh Accommodation Control Act
1961 is relevant
There the question was wheth er the applicant after 284 filing of two eviction suits and acquiring possession of a major portion of the suit premises through an eviction order passed in one of them amounts to the landlord has a reason ably suitable non residential accommodation of his own in his occupation in the city or town concerned within the meaning of section 121f of the MP Act of 1961
It was reiterated that when an action was brought by the landlord under Rent Restriction Act for eviction on the ground of personal requirement his need must not only be shown to exist at the date of the suit but must exist on the date of the appellate decree or on the date when a higher court deals with the matter
Even at the last stage the tenant was entitled to show that the need or requirement no more exist
Otherwise the landlord would derive an unfair advantage
It was further held that in order to obtain possession under section 121h of the Madhya Pradesh Act the landlord had to establish his bona fide requirement of the accommodation in possession of the tenant
At page 624 of the report Pathak J reiterated that the High Court was bound to take the fact into consideration because it is well settled that in a proceeding for the ejectment of a tenant on the ground of personal requirement under a statute controlling the eviction of tenants unless the statute prescribes to the contrary the requirement must continue to exist on the date when the proceeding was finally disposed of either in appeal or revision by the relevant authority
Therefore subsequent events can be taken cognizance of if they are relevant and material
In the instant case the fact that the other flat in the premises fell vacant which the landlady could have occupied but she did not and let it out to fetch higher income was a relevant factor
It can be taken cognizance of
Variety Emporium vs VRM Mohd Ibrahim Naina s  case was with regard to Rent Control and Eviction and dealt with the question of bona fide personal require ment wherein in paragraphs 15 and 16 the Court referred to the decision of Hasmat Rai vs Raghunath Prasad supra and observed that the subsequent events could be taken account of and the distinction between desire  and need  must be kept in view
This view was also applied by the Delhi High Court in respect of the identical Act in question in the decision in Firm Ram Sewak Hari Ram vs Sain Datta Mal AIR 1967 Delhi 113 as well as in Abdul Harnid and another vs Nur Mohammad AIR 1976 Delhi 328
The position therefore that emerges in that there must be bona fide need of the landlady for occupation of a resi dence for herself and further it must be held that the land lady has no other reasonably suitable accommodation
285 Shri Shankar Ghosh learned counsel appearing for the appellant contended before us that in this case the landla dy had reasonably suitable accommodation thrice or if not thrice at least twice when tenant left during the pendency of the proceeding for eviction but she chose in view of the facts mentioned hereinbefore not to go into that possession but let out the same to fetch higher income
Therefore taking the facts into question which indubitably could be taken into account it cannot be said that the landlady had no other reasonably suitable accommodation having regard to the size of her family and her need
Therefore the second limb was not satisfied
There is no dispute and Shri SN Kacker for the respondent did not dispute that subsequent events if they are relevant could be taken account of cau tiously
But he contended as mentioned hereinbefore that the landlady the owner of a house has to live
He further urged that there was a distinction between self induced disenti tlement and disentitlement forced by surrounding circum stances
He submitted in this case the landlady had to live and for this by the surrounding circumstances
she was forced to let out the floor which fell vacant
It is irrele vant whether it fell vacant once twice or thrice but it indisputably fell vacant during the proceedings and she chose not to occupy the same
Better exploitation of the house or the premises in possession of the landlady or landlord was not impermissible
He drew our attention to Article 300A of the Constitution and urged that the Consti tution provided that no person should be deprived of the property save by authority of law
Therefore according to Shri Kacker the landlady had to live and had a right of property in the rental income
The logic of the argument of Shri Kacker is attractive but the legality of the said submission is unsustainable Rent restriction laws are both beneficial and restrictive beneficial for those who want protection from eviction and rack renting but restrictive so far as the landlord s right or claim for eviction is con cerned
Rent restriction laws would provide a habitat for the landlord or landlady if need be but not to seek com forts other than habital that right the landlord must seek elsewhere
Our attention was drawn to the decision in the case of Bishambhar Dayal Chandra Mohan and Others etc
vs State of Uttar Pradesh and Others etc
  and our attention was drawn to the observations at pages 66 and 67 of the said case in aid of the submission that right to property is still a constitutional right and therefore in exercise of that right if a landlord or an owner of a house lets out a premises in question there was nothing wrong
Shri Kacker submitted that the second limb of section 141e of the Act should be read in such a way that it was in consonance with Article 14 and Article 286 21 of the Constitution
Otherwise it would be void as being unconstitutional
As a general proposition of law this is acceptable
We are unable to accept the submissions of Shri Kacker in the way he urged us to read the second limb of section 141e of the Act
The Act in question is the authority of law
There is no denial of equality nor any arbitrariness in the second limb of section 141e of the Act read in the manner contended for by the appellant
Article 21 is not violated so far as the landlord is concerned
The rent restricting acts are beneficial legislations for the protection of the weaker party in the bargains of letting very often
These must be so read that these balance harmoniously the rights of the landlords and the obligations of the tenants
The Rent Restriction Acts deal with the problem of rack renting and shortage of accommodation
It is in consonance with the recognition of the right of both the landlord and the ten ant that a harmony is sought to be struck whereby the bona fide requirements of the landlords and the tenants in the expanding explosion of need and population and shortage of accommodation are sought to be harmonised and the conditions imposed to evict a tenant are that the landlord must have bona fide need
That is satisfied in this case
That posi tion is not disputed
The second condition is that landlord should not have in his or her possession any other reasona bly suitable accommodation
This does not violate either Article 14 or Article 21 of the Constitution
Shri Kacker submitted that this section should to read literally and we should ask ourselves the question today whether can it be said that the landlady had reasonably suitable other accommodation
We are unable to read it in that sense
If the landlady or the landlord could have reasonable accommodation after his or her need arose and she by her own conduct disentitled herself to that property by letting it out for higher income she would be disentitled to evict her tenant on ground of her need
The philosophy and principle of rent restriction law have nothing to do with the private exploitation of property by the owners of the property in derogation of the tenant s need of protec tion from eviction in a society of shortage of accommoda tion
In the premises we are of the opinion that the High Court was wrong in the view and the approach it took and in view of the undisputed facts that the landlady had in her choice to go into the premises in question but she did not she has become disentitled to the right of eviction
The fact that the tenant was a troublesome tenant inasmuch 287 as that he questioned the liability to the landlord is irrelevant
In the premises the appeal is allowed
The order and judgment of the High Court are set aside
In the facts of this case the parties will pay and bear their own costs
MLA Appeal al lowed


Summary:
The respondent landlady was the owner of a premises consisting of ground floor and first floor
Both the floors had been let out on rent and she was living with one of her relatives
She filed a petition for eviction of the appel lant tenant from the first floor of the premises on the ground of bonafide personal necessity
She had stated in the petition that she needed one floor for her residence and the other one ie the ground floor to let out to have income to support herself because that was her only source of liveli hood
During the pendency of the petition the ground floor in the house fell vacant twice and she let it out on higher rent
The Trial Court allowed the eviction petition section 141e of Delhi Rent Control Act 1958 on the ground i that the landlady must have some income and ii that it was landlady s choice to occupy the first floor premises and there was no mala fide her requirement was bona fide
The High Court upheld the aforesaid order of eviction
In appeal to the Supreme Court it was contended on behalf of the appellant tenant that the second limb of the defini tion contained in s141e of the Rent Act was not satis fied since the respondent landlady had other reasonably suitable accommodation and by her own conduct she had disentitled herself of the user of the same inasmuch as the accommodation of ground floor fell vacant twice when tenant left during the pendency of the proceeding for eviction but she chose not to go into that possession but let out the same to fetch higher income
Therefore taking these facts into question which indubitably could he taking 276 into account it cannot be said that the landlady had no other reasonably suitable accommodation 
Allowing the appeal HELD 1 The order and judgment of the High Court are set aside
In view of the undisputed facts that the landlady had in her choice to go into the premises in question but she did not she had become disentitled to the right of eviction
287A 286H 2i The Rent restriction laws are both beneficial and restrictive beneficial for those who want protection from eviction and rack renting but restrictive so far as the landlord s right or claim for eviction is concerned
Rent restriction laws would provide a habitat for the landlord or landlady if need be but not to seek comforts other than habitat that right the landlord must seek elsewhere
The philosophy and principle of rent restriction law have noth ing to do with the private exploitation of property by the owners of the property in derogation of the tenant s need of protection from eviction in a society of shortage of accom modation
285F 286G 2ii Administration of justice demands that any changes either in fact or in law must be taken cognizance of by the Court but that must be done in a cautious manner of relevant facts
Therefore subsequent events can be taken cognizance of if they are relevant and material
283G Pasupuleti Venkateswarlu vs The Motor  General Traders   Hasmat Rai  Anr
vs Raghunath Prasad  and Variety Emporium vs VRM Mohd Ibra him Naina   relied upon
Firm Ram Sewa Hari Ram vs Sain Datt Mal AIR 1967 Delhi 113 and Abdul Hamid and another vs Nur Mohammad AIR 1976 Delhi 328 approved
Bishambhar Dayal Chandra Mohan and Others etc
vs State of Uttar Pradesh and Others etc
   referred to
3 In a proceeding for the ejectment of a tenant on the ground of personal requirement under a statute controlling the eviction of tenants unless the statute prescribes to the contrary the requirement must continue to exist on the date when the proceedings was finally disposed of either in appeal or revision by the relevant authority284D 277 In the instant case if cognizance is taken of events and developments subsequent to the initiation of proceed ings it must be held that the landlady had the opportunity of occupying a floor in the house which fell vacant not once but twice subsequent to arising of her need for reasonable accommodation She chose not to occupy the said premises
Therefore
it cannot be said that the landlady had no other reasonably suitable accommodation and thus the second limb of section 141e of the Act is not satisfied
283D E 285A B