ivil Appeal No 10085 of 1983
From the Judgment and Order dated 1591982 of the Allahabad High Court in Civil Revision No 332 of 1981
SN Kacker and RB Mahlotra for the Appellant
Aruneshwar Gupta and BB Sharma for the Respondent
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by VARADARAJAN J
The short point arising for consideration in this appeal by special leave filed against the decision of a Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court in Civil Revision No 332 of 1981 turns upon the interpretation of section 20 4 of the Uttar Pradesh Urban Buildings Regulation of Letting Rent and Eviction Act 13 of 1972 hereinafter referred to as the Act 
The appellant land lady filed the suit on 681973 for recovering possession from the respondent tenant of a portion of premises situate at Bhau Ka Nagla Agra Road Mauza Dholpura on the allegation that it had been let to the respondent on a rent of Rs 360 per mensem and that the tenancy has come to an end by efflux of time fixed in the rent note on the expiry of 3061973
She alleged in the plaint that the demised property is situate beyond the municipal limits of Ferozabad and is intended for use as a factory and is exempt from the provision of the Act and that the respondent is in arrears of rent to the extent of Rs 3960 for the period from 181972 to 3061973 and she is entitled to recover possession of the premises together with arrears of rent of Rs 3960 at Rs 360 per mensem for the said period and mesne profits at Rs 720 for the subsequent period from 171973 at Rs 20 per day
The respondent opposed the suit contending that the property is situate within three kilometres of Ferozabad municipal limits and was not a factory when it was let out and that it is governed by the 586 provisions of the Act
He denied that the rent is Rs 360 per mensem and contented that it is only Rs 125 per mensem and that the tenancy includes a vacant land shaded green and yellow in the plan filed with the plaint which according to the plaint does not form part of the lease
He denied that he had executed the rent note mentioned in the plaint and that the vacant land shaded green and yellow in the plaint plan had not been leased to him
He further denied that the tenancy has come to an end by efflux of time and contended that the amounts claimed as arrears of rent and mesne profits are wrong and excessive and that the notice to quit is invalid in law as it excludes the vacant land shaded green and yellow in the plaint plan which also is the subject matter of the lease
Finally he contended that the suit is barred by the provisions of s20 of the Act sub section 1 whereof says that save as provided in sub section 2 no suit shall be instituted for the eviction of a tenant from a building notwithstanding the determination of his tenancy by efflux of time or on the expiration of a notice to quit or in any other manner
The learned Fourth Additional District Judge Agra who tried the suit exercising his Jurisdiction as a Judge of Small Causes Court found on 1971975 that he had jurisdiction while recording findings on the point of jurisdiction tried as preliminary issue and he held that though admittedly even the vacant land marked green and yellow in the plaint plan had been originally leased upto 2771972 thereafter only the red marked portion had been leased on a rent of Rs 360 per mensem under the rent note paper No 18A the execution whereof has been denied by the respondent excluding the green and yellow marked portion
On the basis of that unregistered rent note paper No 18A he found that the rent is Rs 360 per mensem rejecting the respondent s case that the old rent of Rs 125 per mensem continued even after the dissolution of the partnership to which the premises had been leased earlier
The respondent admitted that though the property is situate outside the Ferozabad municipal limits it is situate within three kilo metres from those limits and is therefore governed by the provisions of the Act while the appellant denied that it is situate within three kilo metres
The learned District Judge found on the evidence that the property is situate within two kilo metres of the municipal limits and falls within the exception and is governed by the provisions of the Act
He found that the tenancy for the period of 11 months under the rent note paper No 18A had come to an end by efflux of 587 time and the parties are governed by it and that the suit is however governed by the provisions of s20 of the Act
However the learned District Judge considered the question whether the respondent is liable for eviction in this suit and found that the appellant had served notice of demand paper No 35C on the respondent and he failed to pay the rent claimed by the appellant and he is as such liable to be evicted under s20 of the Act
But the respondent had deposited the full amount of rent as claimed at Rs 360 per mensem together with damages for use and occupation interest and costs as required by s20 4 of the Act on 31101973 a day after the first hearing date 30101973
The learned District Judge found that the sum of Rs 7490 was tendered in court on 30101973 and passed by the court on that day and deposited into the bank on 31101973 and that the tender made on 30101973 was valid and the payment must be deemed to have been made on 30101973 itself
But he accepted the argument advanced on behalf of the appellant that because the respondent had contended in the written statement that the rent is Rs 125 per mensem and it was rejected by the court and it was found that the rent is Rs 360 per mensem the deposit of Rs 7490 towards arrears of rent calculated at Rs 360 per mensem together with interest and costs was not unconditional and therefore invalid and s20 4 of the Act does not help the respondent
In that view the learned District Judge decreed the suit for eviction with arrears of rent and mesne profits at Rs 360 per mensem from 181972 and ordered credit being given for the amount deposited by the respondent towards the amount payable under the decree and granted four months time for the respondent to vacate the premises
In CRP No 332 of 1981 filed by the respondent against the Judgment of the trial court a Division Bench of the High Court noticed that one of the conditions of s204 of the Act is that the tenant should unconditionally pay or deposit the entire amount due together with interest and costs and that s20 6 says that any amount deposited under s204 shall be paid to the landlord without prejudice to the pleadings of the parties and subject to the ultimate decision in the suit and they have observed that the submission made before them on behalf of the appellant that the deposit to be unconditional must be on acknowledgement of the liability for rent as claimed by the landlord if accepted would render the provisions in s206 of the Act nugatory
They have observed that if the tenant makes a deposit 588 with a condition that it shall not be paid to the landlord until the suit is decided it would be a conditional deposit
They have found that in the present case the deposit was not conditional merely because while depositing the amount inclusive of rent at the rate of Rs 360 per mensem as claimed in the plaint the respondent had contended in the written statement that the rent is Rs 125 per mensem and not Rs 360 per mensem and that pleading in the written statement that the rent is Rs 125 per mensem and not Rs 360 per mensem does not make the deposit conditional
In that view the learned Judges allowed the civil revision petition and dismissed the suit with costs in both the courts
The findings dated 1971975 recorded by the learned District Judge on the preliminary issue holding that he had jurisdiction to entertain the suit is not available in the records produced in this Court
Therefore it is not known for what reason the learned District Judge held that he had jurisdiction to entertain the suit
The appellant came forward with the suit for recovering possession of the premises together with arrears of rent and mesne profits on the allegation that the tenancy under the rent note paper No 18A was for a period of only 11 months and that it had come to an end by efflux of time and the premises was intended for use as a factory and the Act is not applicable thereto
On the other hand the respondent s defence was that the property was situate within three kilo metres of Ferozabad municipal limits and is governed by the provisions of the Act and that the civil suit for recovery of possession of the property is not maintainable
The learned District Judge accepted the respondent s contention on the question of applicability of the provisions of the Act to the premises in question on the ground that it is located within two kilo metres of Ferozabad municipal limits
section 201 of the Act lays down that save as provided in sub section 2 no suit shall be instituted for eviction of a tenant from a building notwithstanding the determination of his tenancy by efflux of time or on the expiry of a notice to quite or in any other manner
The present suit is not based on any of the grounds mentioned in s20 2 of the Act and though the respondent is alleged to have been in arrears of rent to the extent of Rs 3 960 there is no allegation in the plaint that he is in arrears of rent for not less than four months and had failed to pay the same to the appellant within one month from the date of service upon him of a notice of demand which is the ground mentioned in clause a of s202 of the Act
In these 589 circumstances the learned District Judge should have normally dismissed the suit for want of jurisdiction in view of s201 of the Act on his finding that the Act is applicable to the premises
It is not known why he did not do so but on the other hand proceeded to hold that the deposit by the respondent is not unconditional as required by s204 of the Act and ordered his eviction on that basis
We entirely agree with the learned Judges of the High Court that the deposit of the amount on the first hearing date made up of rent at the rate of Rs 360 per mensem as claimed in the plaint and interest and costs could not be said to be not unconditional merely because the respondent had contended in the written statement that the rent was only Rs 125 per mensem and he did not succeed in proving it at the trial
It is not possible to construe s204 in the manner done by the learned District Judge as that would amount to foreclosure of any defence regarding the quantum of rent even in cases where the amount alleged by the landlord is more than the real rent agreed between the parties
In this connection Mr Kacker learned Counsel appearing for appellant relied strongly upon the following observation made by Balakrishna Eradi J speaking for himself and Pathak and Venkataramiah JJ
in Mangal Sen vs Kanchhid Mal  The provisions of sub section 4 will be attracted only if the tenant has at the first hearing of the suit unconditionally paid or tendered to the landlord the entire amount of rent and damages for use and occupation of the building due from him together with interest thereon at the rate of nine per cent per annum and the landlord s costs of the suit in respect thereof after deducting therefrom any amount already deposited by him under sub section 1 of section 30
There is absolutely no material available on the record to show that the alleged deposit of Rs 1980 was made by the tenant on the first date of hearing itself and what is more important that the said deposit was made by way of an unconditional tender for payment to the landlord
The deposit in question is said to have been made by the appellant on January 25 1974
It was only subsequent thereto 590 that the appellant filed his written statement in the suit
It is noteworthy that one of the principal contentions raised by the appellant defendant in the written statement was that since he had stood surety for the landlord for arrears of sales tax there was no default by him in the payment or rent
In the face of the said plea taken in the written statement disputing the existence of any arrears of rent and denying that there had been a default it is clear that the deposit even it was made on the date of the first hearing was not an unconditional tender of the amount for payment to the landlord
Further there is also nothing on record to show that what was deposited was the correct amount calculated in accordance with the provisions of Section 204
In these circumstances we hold that the appellant has failed to establish that he has complied with the conditions specified in sub section 4 of Section 20 and hence he is not entitled to be relieved against his liability for eviction on the ground set out in clause a of sub section 2 of the said Section
 The above principle cannot apply to the facts of the present case for in that case it was not clear whether the deposit of the correct amount was made within the time fixed in s204 of the Act whereas in the present case it has been found by the learned District Judge that the arrears of rent at the rate claimed in the plaint together with interest and costs had been deposited within the time mentioned in section 20 4 of the Act
Mr Kacker next drew our attention to the language used in s204 and s39 of the Act and submitted that whereas the provisions of s39 are mandatory the Rent Controller has a discretion in s204 in lieu of passing a decree for eviction on the ground of failure to deposit the arrears interest and costs within the period mentioned in s204 to pass an order relieving the tenant against his liability for eviction on that ground and that the High Court exercising revisional jurisdiction under section 115 CPC should not have interfered with the discretion exercised by the learned District Judge in ordering eviction and set aside that order especially in view of the fact that the respondent had failed to prove that the rent was only Rs 125 per mensem and not Rs 360 per mensem
We do not agree
The Act is a social piece of legislation which leans in favour of tenants
Merely because 591 the tenant had failed to prove his case that the rent was only Rs 125 per mensem and not Rs 360 per mensem the discretionary relief could not be denied to him even though he had deposited the arrears of rent at the rate claimed by the landlord in the plaint together with interest and costs within the time mentioned in s204 of the Act
It is not possible to lay down any broad and general proposition that the discretionary relief should be denied to the tenant in all cases where he fails to prove his case regarding the quantum rent even though he had deposited the rent at the rate claimed by the landlord in the plaint together with interest and costs within the time as required by s204 of the Act
For the reasons mentioned above we are of the opinion that no interference with the decision of the High Court is called for in this case
The appeal fails and is dismissed with costs
NVK Appeal dismissed


Summary:
The appellant landlady filed a suit for recovering possession from the respondent tenant on the allegation that the demised property was situated beyond the municipal limits of the town and was exempt from the provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Urban Buildings Regulation of Letting Rent and Eviction Act 1972 that it was let out to the respondent on a rent of Rs 360 per mensem that the tenancy had come to an end by efflux of the time fixed in the rent note and that as the respondent was in arrears of rent to the extent of Rs 3960 she was entitled to recover possession of the premises with the arrears of rent
The respondent oppose the suit contending that the property was situated within three kilometres of the municipal limits of the town and was therefore governed by the provisions of the Act denied that the rent was Rs 360 per mensem and contended that it was only Rs 125 per mensem denied that he had executed the rent note and the tenancy had come to an end by efflux of time that the amounts claimed as arrears of rent and mesne profits were wrong and excessive that the notice to quit was invalid in law and that the suit was barred by the provisions of section 20 of the Act
The Additional District Judge who tried the suit exercising jurisdiction as a Judge of Small Causes Court found that the property was situate within three kilometres of the municipal limits and was governed by the provisions of the Act that the tenancy for the period of 11 months under the rent note had come to an end by efflux of time and the parties were governed by it and that the suit was governed by the provisions of section 20 of the Act
On the question whether the respondent was liable for eviction it was held that though the respondent had deposited the full amount of rent as claimed at Rs 360 per mensem together with damages for use and occupation interest and costs as required by section 204 of the Act amounting to Rs 7490 a day after the first hearing date fixed for the suit as the respondent had contended in the written statement that the rent was Rs 125 per mensem the deposit of Rs 7490 towards arrears interest and costs was not unconditional and therefore invalid 584 and section 204 of the Act did not help the respondent
The suit was accordingly decreed for eviction with arrears of rent and mesne profits
The respondent filed a revision petition and a Division Bench of the High Court noticed that one of the conditions of section 204 of the Act was that the tenant should unconditionally pay or deposit the entire amount due together with interest and costs and that section 206 says that any amount deposited under section 204 shall be paid to the landlord without prejudice to the pleadings of the parties and that in the instant case the deposit would not be a conditional deposit merely because the respondent had contended in the written statement that the rent was Rs 125 per mensem and not Rs 360 per mensem as alleged in the plaint
The civil revision petition was allowed and the suit was dismissed with costs
Dismissing the appeal  HELD 1
The suit in the instant case is not based on any of the grounds mentioned in section 202 of the Uttar Pradesh Urban Buildings Regulation of Letting Rent and Eviction Act 1972 and though the respondent is alleged to have been in arrears of rent to the extent of Rs 3960 there is no allegation in the plaint that he is in arrears of rent for not less than four months and had failed to pay the same to the appellant within one month from the date of service upon him of a notice of demand which is the ground mentioned in clause a of section 202 of the Act
588 G H 2
No interference with the decision of the High Court is called for
The District Judge should have normally dismissed the suit for want of jurisdiction in view of section 201 of the Act on his finding that the Act is applicable to the premises
It is not known why he did not do so but on the other hand proceeded to hold that the deposit by the respondent is not unconditional as required by section 204 of the Act and ordered his eviction on that basis
589 A B 3
It is not possible to construe section 204 in the manner done by the District Judge as that would amount to foreclosure of any defence regarding the quantum of rent even in cases where the amount alleged by the landlord is more than the actual rent agreed to between the parties
589 C In the instant case it had been found by the District Judge that the arrears of rent at the rate claimed in the plaint together with interest and cost had been deposited within the time mentioned in section 204 of the Act
Merely because the tenant had failed to prove his case that the rent was only Rs 125 per mensem and not Rs 360 per mensem the discretionary relief could not be denied to him
590 E 591 Mangal Sen vs Kanchhid Mal 1982 I SCR 331 at 336 distinguished
The Act is a social piece of legislation which leans in favour of tenants
It is not possible to lay down any broad and general proposition that 585 the discretionary relief should be denied to the tenant in all cases where he fails to prove his case regarding the quantum of rent even though he had deposited the rent at the rate claimed by the landlord in the plaint together with interest and costs within the time as required by section 204 of the Act
590 H 591 B