Special Leave Petition Civil No 5631 of 1981
AND SLP Civil No5632 of 1981 With SLP Civil Nos
5698 5701 of 1981
From the judgment and order dated the 15th July 1981 of the Bombay High Court in Writ Petition Nos
1814 1965 1966 1913 and 1815 of 1981 respectively
Soli J Sorabjee PH Parekh and Hemant Sharma for the petitioners in SLP No 5631 of 1931
D V Patel PH Parekh and Hemant Sharma for the petitioners in SLP No 5632 of 1981
Anil B Dewan SV Bhat R Satish and EC Agarwala for the respondents
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by PATHAK J
This and the connected petitions pray for special leave to appeal to this Court against the refusal of the Bombay High Court to grant relief under Article 227 of the Constitution in the 714 matter of the dismissal of six declaratory suits filed by the petitioners
The first respondent Ahmed RV Peer Mohamed is the owner of a property Peerbhai Mansion situate on Vithalbhai Patel Road Bombay
He let out the entire first floor to the second respondent Smt
Saraswatibai Dahyabhai Bhatt
The first floor consisted of a hall and three rooms and an adjoining terrace
It seems that Saraswatibai sub divided the hall into a number of cabins and transferred them to the occupation of the petitioners in this and the connected special leave petitions
The landlord served a notice dated July 28 1962 on her terminating her tenancy and thereafter filed an ejectment suit No 5765157 of 1962
A decree for ejectment was passed in 1966
An appeal by Saraswatibai was dismissed in 1972
The landlord took out execution of the decree
Obstructionist notice was served on all the petitioners and was made absolutely in favour of the landlord on February 27 1974
The petitioners appealed and on November 30 1976 these appeals were dismissed
The six petitioners then filed separate suits Nos 5734 to 5739 of 1976 against the landlord for a declaration that they were lawful sub tenants or licensees entitled to the protection of the Bombay Rents Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act 1947 and for a permanent injunction restraining the landlord from executing the decree for ejectment obtained against Saraswatibai
During the trial of the suits the sole issue pressed before the trial Judge was whether the petitioners were entitled to the benefit of the Act as lawful sub tenants or as deemed tenants or as protected licensees
The Trial Judge ruled that they were not so protected and he dismissed the suits on March 29 1978
The petitioners appealed
The only point raised in appeal was whether the petitioners could be described as lawful sub tenants or protected licensees
Affirming the findings of the trial Judge the appellate Court held that the petitioners were inducted into the premises after 1960 and therefore were not entitled to be regarded as lawful sub tenants
It found that Saraswatibai had become a statutory tenant on the termination of her tenancy by the notice dated July 28 1962 and the petitioners were her licensees and after the decree for ejectment against Saraswatibai on September 30 1966 her rights and interest in the premises came to an end and from that date the licensees were not entitled to any statutory protection
Accordingly the appellate Court maintained the dismissal of the suits filed by the petitioners
715 The petitioners filed writ petitions under Article 227 of the Constitution before the High Court and the High Court after hearing the parties rejected the petitions by its order dated July 15 1981
These petitions for special leave to appeal are directed against that order
Mr Soli Sorabjee appearing for the petitioner in SLP No 5631 of 1981 contends that the petitioner must be regarded as a licensee entitled to the benefit of sub section
2 of section 14 read with sub section
1 of section 15 A of the Bombay Rents Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act 1947
He urges that in virtue of the definition of licensee set forth in sub section
4A of section 5 of the Act that is to say a person who is in occupation of the premises under a subsisting agreement for licence the petitioner must be regarded as a licensee in occupation on February 1 1973 and therefore a tenant falling within the terms of sub section
1 of section 15 A
On that learned counsel says the petitioner must be deemed pursuant to sub section
2 of section 14 to be a tenant of the landlord the first respondent on the terms and conditions of the agreement
Now there can be no doubt that if the petitioner can be said to be a licensee in occupation on February 1 1973 he is entitled to assert that he has become a tenant of the landlord
But a licensee is one who is in occupation under a subsisting agreement for licence
The agreement for licence must be subsisting on the date on which he claims to be a licensee
In the instant case in order to establish his claim the petitioner must be in occupation on February 1 1973 under an agreement for licence subsisting on that date
In our opinion the petitioner is not entitled to the benefit claimed by him
An agreement for licence can subsist and continue to take effect only so long as the licensor continues to enjoy a right title or interest in the premises
On the termination of his right title or interest in the premises the agreement for licence comes to an end
If the licensor is a tenant the agreement for licence terminates with the tenancy
No tenant is ordinarily competent to grant a licence enduring beyond his tenancy
On the termination of the licensor s tenancy the licensee ceases to be a licensee
This loss of status is the point from which sub section
2 of section 14 begins to operate and in consequence of its operation the erstwhile licensee becomes a tenant of the landlord on the terms and conditions of the agreement
What have we here  Saraswatibai ceased to be tenant of any description long before February 1 1973
The contractual tenancy 716 came to an end when the notice to quit dated July 28 1962 took effect and the statutory tenancy terminated when the decree for ejectment was passed thereafter
Before February 1 1973 she had ceased to be a tenant
With that the agreement for licence stood automatically terminated
In consequence the petitioner cannot legitimately claim to be a licensee on February 1 1973
Mr Sorabjee relies on Madhusudan A Mahale vs PM Gidh and others but we are unable to see any support for the petitioner in the judgment in that case
In our judgment Special Leave Petition No 5631 of 1981 must fail
Mr DV Patel appearing for the petitioner in Special Leave Petition No 5632 of 1981 points out that the petitioner had been in occupation of the entire flat as a sub tenant since 1943 and that in 1960 he had merely restricted his occupation to the portion presently occupied by him
It must be taken he contends that he was a lawful sub tenant since 1943 and therefore by virtue of sub section
1 of section 14 of the Act he must be regarded as a tenant of the landlord on the determination of Saraswatibai s tenancy
The contention has no force
The courts below have found that the occupation of the petitioner in the premises presently in his possession must be treated as dating back to 1962 and not earlier
That being so the benefit of sub section 1 of section 14 cannot be available to the petitioner
The benefit can be claimed by a sub tenant to whom the premises have been lawfully sub let before the commencement of the Bombay Rents Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Amendment ordinance 1959
In as much as the sub tenancy of the petitioner in the premises has been found to commence from 1962 we must hold that this petitioner also has no right to continue in possession
This Special Leave Petition must also be rejected
As regards the remaining special leave petitions it is admitted that they must be disposed of on the same footing as Special Leave 
Petition Civil No 5631 of 1981
In the result these special leave petitions are dismissed
Learned counsel for the petitioners pray that the petitioners may be allowed to continue in possession for a period of eighteen 717 months in view of the great difficulty in securing alternative accommodation in Bombay
They point out that the landlord the first respondent had agreed in the High Court to grant that period to the petitioners but subject to the condition that the petitioners did not move this Court in appeal
Having regard to the circumstances of the case it appears to us appropriate to direct that the petitioners shall not be dispossessed from the accommodation in their possession upto September 30 1982 provided they furnish an undertaking with the Registrar of this Court within one month from today a that they will hand over peaceful and vacant possession of the said premises to the landlord the first respondent on or before September 30 1982
b that they shall continue to pay to the first respondent by the 7th day of each month an amount on account of the use and occupation of the premises equal to the monthly amount paid by them to the licensor Saraswatibai under the agreement for licence c that they will deposit within three months from today in the court executing the decree in Ejectment Suit No 5765157 of 1962 all arrears calculated in accordance with the condition b mentioned above for the period commencing with the date of the decree in that suit and d that they shall not induct in the said premises any other person as sub lessee licensee or otherwise


Summary:
Respondent No 1 who was the landlord and had let out the petition premises to respondent No 2 served a notice dated July 28 1962 terminating her tenancy and filed an ejectment suit
A decree for ejectment was passed in 1966 and the appeal of respondent No 2 was dismissed in 1972
The landlord took out execution of the decree
Obstructionist notice served on the petitioners who were sub tenants of respondent No 2 was made absolute in favour of the landlord
The pensioners  appeal was dismissed
Dismissing the petitioners  suits against the landlord for a declaration that they were lawful sub tenants licensee entitled to the protection of the Bombay Rents Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act 1947 and for an injunction restraining the landlord from executing the decree for ejectment the trial Court held that they were not entitled to the benefit of the Act as lawful sub tenants or as deemed tenants or as protected licensees
The petitioners appeals were dismissed on the ground that having been inducted into the premises after 1960 they were not entitled to be regarded as lawful sub tenants
In the Special Leave Petitions to this Court it was contended that the petitioners 1 must be regarded as licensees entitled to the benefit of section 142 read with section 15 A1 of the Act and 2 having been in occupation since 1943 and having in 1960 merely restricted their occupation to the portions occupied by them they were lawful sub tenants since 1943 and therefore by virtue of section 141 they must be regarded as tenants on the determination of respondent No 2 s tenancy
Dismissing the Special Leave Petitions  HELD 1
An agreement for licence can subsist and continue only so long as the licensor continues to enjoy a right title or interest in the premises
On the termination of his right title or interest in the premises the agreement for licence comes to an end
If the licensor is a tenant the agreement for licence terminates with the tenancy
No tenant is ordinarily competent to grant a licence beyond his tenancy
On the termination of the licensor s tenancy the licensee cases to be a licensee
This loss of status is the point 713 from which sub section 2 of section 14 of the Act begins to operate and in consequence of its operation the erstwhile licensee becomes a tenant of the landlord on the terms and conditions of the agreement
715 F H In the instant case respondent No 2 ceased to be a tenant of any description long before February 1 1973
The contractual tenancy came to an end when the notice to quit took effect and the statutory tenancy terminated when the decree for ejectment was passed thereafter
When she had ceased to be tenant the agreement for licence stood automatically terminated by reason of which the petitioners cannot claim to be licensees on February 1 1973
715 H 716 B 2
The benefit of section 141 can be claimed by a sub tenant to whom the premises had been lawfully sub let before the commencement of the Bombay Rents Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Amendment Ordinance 1959
716 E In the instant case the sub tenancy has been found to commence from 1962 and not earlier
The benefit of sub section 1 of section 14 cannot be available and there can be no right to continue in possession
716 F Madhusudan A Mahale vs PM Gidh and others held inapplicable