Appeal No 116
of 1964
Appeal from the judgment and order dated September 13 1960 of the Allahabad High Court in Special Appeal No 212 of 1956
J P Goyal and B P Jha for the appellants
A V Ranganadham Chetty and A V Rangam for the res pondents
At the time when the present suit was brought the UP Temporary Control of Rent and Eviction Act 1947 UP Act III of 1947 hereinafter called the Act  was in force
Section 3 of the Act imposes certain restrictions on the landlord s right to eject his tenant from the premises to which the Act applies
Broadly stated the effect of the provisions contained in section 31 is that a landlord can evict his tenant if he satisfies two conditions
The first condition is that he must obtain the permission of the District Magistrate to file such a suit and the second condition is that he must provethe existence of one or the other of the seven grounds enumeratedin clauses a to g of section 31
We shall presently refer to therelevant provisions of this section
In their plaint the appellants pleaded that they needed the premises in suit to carry on their own business in the shop and they alleged that they had applied for permission to the District Magistrate Moradabad under section 3 1  of the Act that the said permission had been refused by him whereupon they had moved the Commissioner in his revisions jurisdiction under section 32 of the Act and that the Commissioner had given them permission to file the suit
That is how the appellants claimed to have satisfied both the conditions prescribed by section 3 1
The appellants further claim 555 ed ejectment of the respondents and asked for a decree for damages
for use and occupation of the suit premises from 11th April 1953 to 11th July 1954 Rs 35 per month
The suit No 349 of 1954 was filed on the 14th July 1954
The respondents resisted the claim made by the appelants on
several grounds
They urged that the suit was bad for non joinder of necessary parties that the permission to sue granted to the appellants by the Commissioner was not valid in law that the rent note executed by them was not admissible in evidence and that the notice given by the appellants under section 106 of the Transfer of Property Act was also invalid in law
On these pleadings the learned Munsif Chandausi framed appropriate issues
Evidence wag led by both the parties in support of their respective contentions
The learned trial Judge recorded findings in favour of the appellants on all the issues and decreed their suit with costs on the 25th March 1955
The respondents then preferred an appeal Civil Appeal No 213 of 1955 in the Court of the District Judge Moradabad and urged that the findings recorded by the trial Judge were erroneous and asked for the reversal of the decree passed by him
The learned District Judge rejected the respondents  contentions and confirmed the decree under appeal on the 2nd June 1955
That took the respondents to the High Court at Allahabad in second appeal No 1106 of 1955
The learned single Judge of the said High Court who heard this appeal upheld the respondents  contention that the permission granted by the Commissioner under section 33 of the Act was invalid in law and so he came to the conclusion that the appellants  suit was incompetent
This judgment was delivered on the 26th July 1956
The learned Judge however allowed the appellants leave to file a Letters Patent Appeal
The Letters Patent Appeal was placed before a larger Bench of three learned Judges of the High Court because it was thought that the question raised by the appellants was of some importance
On the question as to whether the permission granted by the Commissioner was valid or not the learned Judges who heard the appeal differed
Two of the learned Judges held that the said permission was invalid whilst the third learned Judge held that it was valid
In accordance with the majority opinion the Letters Patent appealpreferred by the appellants was dismissed on the 13th September 1960
The appellants then applied for 556 and obtained a certificate from the High Court and it is with the said certificate that this appeal has come to this Court
At the hearing of this appeal the first point which Mr Goyal for the appellants has raised for our decision is that the courts below had no jurisdiction to consider the question about the validity of the permission granted by the Commissioner
He contends that section 3 of the Act provides a self contained code for the grant of permission and all questions in relation to the grant or refusal of the said permission have to be decided by the appropriate authorities constituted under the Act
Once the question about the grant of permission asked for by a landlord is determined by the appropriate authorities their decision is final and cannot be questioned in a civil court
In support of this argument Mr Goyal has based himself on the provisions contained in section 3 4 and section 16 of the Act
Section 3 4 provides that the order of the Commissioner under sub section 3 shall subject to any order passed by the State Government under section 7 F be final
Similarly section 16 provides that no order made under this Act by the State Government or the District Magistrate shall be called in question in any Court
The combined effect of these two provisions according to Mr Goyal is to exclude the jurisdiction of the civil courts to entertain the question about the correctness propriety or legality of the order passed by the Commissioner in the present case whereby he granted permission to the appellants to bring the present suit
In order to appreciate the validity of this argument it is necessary to consider the scheme of the relevant provisions of the Act
Section 31 reads thus Subject to any order passed under sub section 3 no suit shall without the permission of the District Magistrate be filed in any Civil Court against a tenant for his eviction from any accommodation except on one or more of the following grounds
It is unnecessary to cite the said grounds because it is not disputed that the ground of personal need set out by the appellants justifies their claim for the respondents  ejectment
Section 32 and 3 as they stood at the relevant time read thus  2 The party aggrieved by the order of District Magistrate granting or refusing to grant the permission referred to in sub section 1 may within 30days from the date of the order or the date on which it is communi 5 57 cated to him whichever is later apply to the Commissioner to revise the order
3 The Commissioner shall as far as may be hear the application within six weeks from the date of its making and if he is satisfied that the District Magistrate has acted illegally or with material irregularity or has wrongly refused to act he may confirm or set aside
the order of the District Magistrate
We have already referred to section 34
It would thus be seen that the scheme of section 3 is that if a landlord wants to bring a suit to eject his tenant he has to apply to the District Magistrate for permission to do so
The District Magistrate may grant or refuse to grant such permission
After the District Magistrate makes an order on the landlord s application the party aggrieved by the order can apply in revision to the Commissioner within 30 days and the Commissioner in exercise of his revisional jurisdiction has to deal with the revision application under section 33
If he is satisfied that the District Magistrate has acted illegally or with material irregularity or has wrongly refused to act he can make an appropriate order and the order thus made by him is final under sub section
4 subject to any order that the State Government may pass under section 7 F of the Act
Section 7 E provides for the revisional powers of the State Government in very wide terms
It reads thus  The State Government may call for the record of any case granting or refusing to grant permission for the filing of a suit for eviction referred to in section 3 or requiring any accommodation to be let or not to be let to any person under section 7 and may make such order as appears to it necessary for the ends of justice
It is clear that the power conferred on the State Government by section 7 F to revise the orders passed by the Commissioner under section 3 3  is very wide
In the first place the State Government need not necessarily be moved by any party in that behalf
It may call for the record suo moto and it can exercise its powers in the interests of justice
In other words whenever it is brought to the notice of the State Government either by a party aggrieved by the order passed by the Commissioner or otherwise that the order passed by the Commissioner is unfair or unjust the State Government may in the ends of justice pass an appropriate order revising the order made by the Commissioner
That in brief is the 558 scheme of
the relevant provisions of the Act relating to the grant of permission to the landlord to sue his tenant in ejectment
Mr Goyal contends that the words of section 3 4 read with section 16 are clear and unambiguous and they indicate that the jurisdiction of the civil courts is completely excluded in relation to the question as to whether permission has been properly or validly granted or refused by the appropriate authorities exercising their powers under the relevant provisions of the Act
It cannot be seriously disputed that the jurisdiction of the civil courts to deal with civil causes can be excluded by the Legislature by special Acts which deal with special subject matters but the exclusion of the jurisdiction of the civil courts must be made by a statutory provision which expressly provides for it or which necessarily and inevitably leads to that inference
In other words the jurisdiction of the civil courts can be excluded by a statutory provision which is either express in that behalf or which irresistibly leads to that inference
One of the points which is often treated as relevant in dealing with the question about the exclusion of civil courts  jurisdiction is whether the special statute which it is urged excludes such jurisdiction has used clear and unambiguous words indicating that intention
Another test which is applied is  does the said statute provide for an adequate and satisfactory alternative remedy to a party that may be aggrieved by the relevant order under its material provisions  Applying these two tests it does appear that the words used in section 3 4 and section 16 are clear
Section 16 in terms provides that the order made under this Act to which the said section applies shall not be called in question in any court
this is an express provision excluding the civil courts  jurisdiction
Section 3 4 does not expressly exclude the jurisdiction of the civil courts but in the context the inference that the civil courts  jurisdiction is intended to be excluded appears to be inescapable
Therefore we are satisfied that Mr Goyal is right in contending that the jurisdiction of the civil courts is excluded in relation to matters covered by the orders included within the provisions of section 3 4 and section 16
This conclusion however does not necessarily mean that the plea against the validity of the order passed by the District Magistrate or the Commissioner or the State Government can never be raised in a civil court
In our opinion the bar created by the relevant provisions of the Act excluding the jurisdiction of the civil courts cannot operate in cases where the plea raised before the civil court goes to the root of the matter and would if upheld 559 lead to the conclusion that the impugned order is a nullity
Take for instance the case of an order purported to have been passed by a District Magistrate who is not a District Magistrate in law
If it is shown by a party impeaching the validity of the order in a civil court that the order was passed by a person who was not a District Magistrate the order in law would be a nullity and such a plea cannot be ruled out on the ground of the exclusion of the jurisdiction of the civil court
Similarly if an order granting permission to a landlord is passed by a District Magistrate of one District when the property in question is situated in another district outside his jurisdiction a party would be entitled to urge before a civil court that the permission purported to have been granted by the District Magistrate is wholly invalid and a nullity in law
Let us take another case to illustrate the position
If section 3 had provided that before a District Magistrate grants permission to the landlord to sue his tenant he shall issue notice to the tenant and give him an opportunity to represent his case before the application of the
landlord is dealt with on
the merits and in the face of such a statutory provision the District Magistrate grants permission ex parte without issuing notice to the tenant in such a case the failure of the District Magistrate to comply with the mandatory provision prescribed in that behalf would render the order passed by him completely invalid and a plea that an order has been passed by the District Magistrate without complying with the mandatory provision of the Act would be open for examination before a civil court
Likewise in the absence of such a statutory provision if it is held that the proceedings before the appropriate
authorities contemplated by section 3 are in the nature of quasi judcial proceedings and they must be tried in accordance with the principles of natural justice and it is shown that in a given case an order has been passed without notice to the party affected by such order it would be open to the said party to contend that an order passed in violation of the principles of natural justice is a nullity and it existence should be ignored by the civil court
Such a plea cannot in our opinion be excluded by reason of the provisions contained in section 3 4 and section 16 of the Act
In this connection we may incidentally refer to a recent deciSion of this Court in Lala Shri Bhagwan  A nr
vs Shri Ram Chand and Another1
In that case this Court upheld the decision of the Allahabad High Court which had set aside the order passed by the appropriate authority under the relevant provisions the Act on the ground that in passing the said order principles of natural 1  560 justice had not been followed
The view which was taken by this Court in that case was that the proceedings taken by a landlord under section 3 are proceedings of a quasi judicial nature and the appropriate authorities in exercising their powers in relation to such proceedings must act in accordance with the principles of natural justice
It must however be made clear that in that case the question as to whether such a plea can be raised in a civil court having regard to the bar created by sections 3 4 and 16 of the Act was not raised and has not been considered
We ought to point out that the provisions contained in sec tions 34 and 16 undoubtedly raise a bar against pleas which challenge the correctness or propriety of the orders in question
The merits of the order are concluded by the decision of the appropriate authorities under the Act and they cannot be agitated in a civil court
But where a plea seeks to prove that the impugned order is a nullity in the true legal sense that is a plea which does not come within the mischief of the bar created by sections 34 and 16 of the Act
Similar questions have often been considered by judicial decisions to some of which we will now refer
In The Secretary of State for India in Council vs Roy Jatindra Nath Chowdhury and A nr 1 dealing with the effect of section 6 of the Bengal Alluvion and Diluvion Act IX of 1847 the Privy Council observed that the finality of the orders specified in the said section had to be read subject to two conditions the first was that the said orders should not suffer from any fundamental irregularity that is to say a defiance or noncompliance with the essentials of the procedure and the second condition was that the alleged defiance or non compliance with the essentials of the procedure must be strictly proved by the party alleging it
This decision show that if the special statute prescribes certain mandatory conditions subject to which the orders in question can be passed and the said mandatory provisions are violated the validity of the said orders can be challenged in a civil proceeding
Similarly if principles of natural justice are not complied with the orders passed in violation of the said principles would be wholly inoperative in law and their validity can be impeached in civil proceedings
The same principle has been emphasised by the Privy Council in Secretary of State vs Mask  Co1
In that case though the words used in sections 188 and 191 of the Sea Customs Act 1878 were held to exclude the jurisdiction of the civil courts 1 AIR 1924 PC 175
2 67 1
A 222 561 the Privy Council observed that even where jurisdiction is excluded the civil courts have jurisdiction to examine into cases where the provisions of the Act have not been complied with or the statutory tribunal has not acted in conformity with the fundamental principles of judicial procedure
This latter clause presumably covers cases where orders are passed in violation of the principles of natural justice
In Ms Kamala Mills Ltd vs The State of Bombay1 while dealing with a similar point this Court has considered the effect of the two decisions of the Privy Council one in the case of Mask  Co1 and the other in Raleigh Investment Company Ltd vs Governor General in Council3
The conclusion reached by this Court in Ms Kamala Mill s case1 also supports the view which we are taking in the present appeal
Therefore while upholding the contention raised by Mr Goyal that the jurisdiction of the civil courts is barred we wish to make it clear that this contention will not avail Mr Goyal if the respondents  plea if upheld would render the permission granted by the Commissioner totally invalid land a nullity
The second point which then calls for our decision in the present appeal is is the permission granted by the Commissioner without jurisdiction and as such a nullity  The majority decision of the Allahabad High Court is in favour of the respondents and Mr Goyal s argument is that the said decision is inconsistent with the true scope and effect of the provisions prescribed by section 3 3 of the Act
The decision of this point lies within a very narrow compass
The majority decision is that the jurisdiction conferred on the Commissioner under section 33 is exactly similar to the jurisdiction conferred on the High Court under section 115 of the Code of Civil Procedure
It will be recalled that
115 of the Code confers revisional jurisdiction on the High Court to make such order as it thinks fit in a given case if the subordinate court whose order is brought before the High Court under section 115 appears a to have exercised a jurisdiction not vested in it by law or b to have failed to exercise a jurisdiction so vested or c to have acted in exercise of its jurisdiction illegally or with material irregularity
There is no doubt that the requirements of clauses a b  c all centre round the question about the jurisdiction of the subordinate court and the view which has been accepted by the majority decision under appeal is that the same limitation must be imported in construing 1  3 74 T A 50 at pp
62 63
2 67 IA 222
56 2 the scope of the authority and power conferred on the Commissioner by section 33
Let us examine whether this conclusion is right
In construing the provision of section 3 3 one factor which is patent is that it does not refer to any considerations of jurisdiction at all
In fact it is not easy to conceive of a limitation as to jurisdiction being relevant in section 33 because the said provision deals with orders passed by District Magistrates and the District Magistrates normally would have jurisdiction to deal with applications made by landlords
But quite apart from this aspect of the matter the words used in section 33 are unambiguous
There are three categories of cases in which the Commissioner can interfere with the order passed by the District Magistrate
If the District Magistrate has acted illegally the Commissioner can interfere with his order so can he interfere with the order if the District Magistrate has acted with material irregularity and lastly the Commissioner can interfere with the order of the District Magistrate if the District Magistrate has wrongly refused to act
This last clause is wide enough to empower the Commissioner to correct the error committed by the District Magistrate in making an order brought before it quite clearly if the District Magistrate refuses to grant permission and the Commissioner thinks that in doing so he has committed an error that would be a case where the District Magistrate has wrongly refused to act and that would give theCommissioner jurisdiction to exercise his revisional power
It is significant that the revisional application can be made to the Commissioner only against orders passed by the District Magistrate granting or refusing to grant such permission
It is we think fallacious to assume that a party can move the Commissioner under section 33 in cases where the District Magistrate just refuse to make an order on the application made by the landlord for permission to bring a suit against the tenant
If a District Magistrate just does not deal with the application and passes no order on it the party aggrieved may be justified in applying for an appropriate writ to the High Court or adopt some other suitable remedy in law but a revision in such a case does not appear to be competent under section 3 3
Besides the illegality or the irregularity to which section 3 3 refers need not necessarily be correlated with questions of jurisdic tion
Therefore we are satisfied that the High Court was not justified in introducing a limitation pertaining to questions of jurisdiction in determining the scope of the width of the revisional visional power conferred on the Commissioner by section 3 3
That is why it must be held that the High Court was in error in coming to the conclu 563 sion that the permission granted by the Commissioner in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 3 k 3 is invalid in law
As we have already emphasised the only plea which can be raised before a civil court in relation to orders passed under the relevant provisions of the Act can be a plea which if sustained would render the order wholly invalid and as such a nullity
No other plea can be raised because all other pleas are barred by sections 3 4 and 16 of the Act
In this connection we may incidentally point out that by a subsequent amendment of section 33 the Legislature has made it clear that its intention is to confer wide jurisdiction on the Commissioner
The amendment in question has been introduced by Act 17 of 1954
The amended provision reads thus   The Commissioner shall hear the application made under sub section 2 as far as may be within six weeks from the date of making it and he may if he is not satisfied as to the correctness legality or propriety of the order passed by the District Magistrate or as to the regularity of proceedings held before him alter or reverse his order or make such other order as may be just and proper
There is no doubt that under this amended provision the Commissioner can deal not only with the legality but also with the correctness and propriety of the order passed by the District Magistrate
In our opinion the position about the Comissioner s powers was not different even under the unamended provision
It may also be relevant to point out that the power conferred on the State Government at all material times by section 7 F was very wide
As we have already indicated in exercise of its powers under section 7 F the State Government can pass such orders as appear to it to be necessary in the ends of justice
Therefore there is no doubt that the relevant provisions of the Act did not intend even prior to the amendment of 1954 to limit the jurisdiction of the Commissioner only to cases where irregularity or illegality bad been committed by the District Magistrate in granting or refusing to grant permission
The result is the appeal is allowed the order passed by the High Court in the Letters Patent Appeal is set aside and that of the District Court restored with costs throughout
Appeal allowed


Summary:
The appellants sued the respondents their tenants for ejectment from their shop
They had applied to the District Magistrate for the requisite permission to institute the suit under section 31 of the UP Temporary Control of Rent and Eviction Act
When the permission was refused they moved the Commissioner in his revisional jurisdiction under section 32 of the Act and the Commissioner gave the permission
The Munsif decreed the suit
This was confirmed in appeal by the District Judge
The High Court on appeals upheld the respondents contention that the permission granted by the Commissioner under section 3 3 of the Act was invalid in law and so concluded that the appellants  suit was incompetent
In this Court the appellants contended i sections 34 and 16 of the Act totally excludes the jurisdiction of civil courts in relation to the question as to whether permission has been properly or validly granted or refused by the appropriate authority exercising their powers under the relevant provisions of the Act and ii the decision of the High Court that the permission granted by the Commissioner was invalid in law was inconsistent with the true scope and effect of the provisions prescribed by section 33 of the Act
HELDi Section 3 4 and 16 of the Act create a bar against pleas which challenge the correctness or propriety of the orders in question
558 G The two tests which are often considered relevant in dealing with the question about the exclusion of civil courts  jurisdiction are a whether the special statute which excludes such jurisdiction has used clear and unambi guous words indicating that intention and b does that statute provide for an adequate and satisfactory alternative remedy to a party that may be aggrieved by the relevant order under its material provisions
Applying these tests the inference is inescapable that the jurisdiction of the civil courts is intended to be excluded
558 D G This conclusion however does not necessarily mean that the plea against the validity of order passed by
the District Magistrate or the Commissioner or the State can never be raised in a civil court
The bar excluding the jurisdiction of civil courts cannot operate in cases where the plea raised before the civil court goes to the root of the matter and would if upheld lead to the conclusion that the impugned order is a nullity
558 G H iiThe High Court was not justified in introducing a limitation pertaining to questions of jurisdiction in determining the scopeof the width of the revisional power conferred on the Commissionerby section 3 3
There are three categories of cases in which the commissioner can interfere with the order passed by the District Magistrate a if the District Magistrate has acted illegally b if he has acted with material irregularity andc if he has wrongly refused to act
This last ground is wide enough 5 54 to empower the Commissioner to correct the error committed by District Magistrate in making an order brought before it clearly if the District Magistrate refused to grant permission and the Commissioner thinks that in doing so he has committed an error that would be a case where the District Magistrate has wrongly refused to act and that would give the Commissioner jurisdiction to exercise his revisional powers
562 C E H