CR No.6978 of 2010 (O&M) -1- CR No.7460 of 2010 (O&M) ****** IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH (1) CR No.6978 of 2010 (O&M) Date of decision:22.03.2011. Mohinder Singh ...Petitioner Versus Kartar Singh ...Respondent (2) CR No.7460 of 2010 (O&M) Date of decision:22.03.2011. Kartar Singh ...Petitioner Versus Mohinder Singh ...Respondent CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE RAKESH KUMAR JAIN Present: Mr. Sanjeev Manrai, Advocate, for the petitioner in CR No.6978 of 2010 and for the respondent in CR No.7460 of 2010. Mr. Rakesh Gupta, Advocate, for the respondent in CR No.6978 of 2010 and for the petitioner in CR No.7460 of 2010. ***** RAKESH KUMAR JAIN, J. This order shall dispose of two revision petitions bearing CR No.6978 of 2010 titled as `Mohinder Singh Vs. Kartar Singh' and CR No.7460 of 2010 titled as `Kartar Singh Vs. Mohinder Singh' as both the revision petitions are directed against the same order dated 13.10.2010 passed by the learned Rent Controller, Patiala, by which he has assessed the provisional rent @ `3,000/- per month to be paid from 01.01.2006 till the filing of the eviction petition alongwith interest @ 6% per annum and costs of `1,000/-. CR No.6978 of 2010 is prior in time which has been filed by the tenant assailing the period of rent in which he has CR No.6978 of 2010 (O&M) -2- CR No.7460 of 2010 (O&M) ****** alleged that the rent has already been paid by him up to 01.12.2008, whereas CR No.7460 of 2010 has been filed by the landlord who has assailed the impugned order on the ground that the rent is due from September 2001 and not from January 2006. Vide order dated 07.01.2010 passed in CR No.7460 of 2010, the said revision petition was ordered to be heard alongwith CR No.6978 of 2010 and as such, both the revision petitions are being disposed of together by this common order. In the revision petition filed by the tenant, he has basically relied upon an affidavit dated 04.08.2010 which is allegedly sworn by one Ram Asre S/o Manohar Ram who was working as Salesman-cum-Manager with the landlord at his petrol pump. In the said affidavit, Ram Asre has alleged that he used to collect rent from the tenant on behalf of the landlord @ `3,000/- per month and had collected it up to 01.12.2008 which was paid to him by the tenant in the first week of January 2009. He averred that the landlord had never issued receipt to the tenant. He also alleged that the landlord got prepared false receipts from him before filing the eviction petition. In reply, learned counsel for the landlord has submitted that Ram Asre was working with him but he left the job in the end of the year 2008. He had stolen income tax & sales tax returns and related books, other necessary documents, including cheque books etc. from the firm M/s Kartar Singh Swarn Singh and when they found that a complaint has been lodged by Ram Asre to the income tax authorities, then they came to know that their records lying in the almirah at the basement of the petrol pump were not there and when they asked Ram Asre for the purpose of returning the record, he demanded `10,00,000/-. Consequently, the landlord got registered FIR No.419 dated 16.11.2010 against Ram Asre, under Sections 408/385 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, at Police Station Kotwali, District Patiala. It is, thus, submitted that the affidavit of Ram Asre dated 04.08.2010 cannot be believed which is given by him to the tenant out of retaliation on account of registration of a criminal case by the landlord. From these facts, I have found that it is a case of allegations and counter allegations which requires thorough investigation on the basis of evidence to be led by the parties during the trial to find out as to whether the affidavit given CR No.6978 of 2010 (O&M) -3- CR No.7460 of 2010 (O&M) ****** by Ram Asre is out of vengeance because his affidavit is dated 04.08.2010 and the FIR against him is dated 16.11.2010, but the said FIR was lodged by the landlord when they found that some complaint has been lodged by Ram Asre before the Income Tax Authorities and the date of said complaint is not forthcoming. In these circumstances where the landlord is asking for rent from September 2001 and the tenant is claiming that he has paid the rent up to December 2008, it definitely becomes a matter of evidence to find out the exact period of arrears of rent which can be decided only after both the parties would lead their evidence in that regard, but at this stage, in my opinion, the learned Rent Controller has rightly assessed the arrears of rent from 01.01.2006 till the filing of the eviction petition for the time being as the period of rent would be decided finally only after both the parties would lead their entire evidence as much depends on the veracity of the evidence of Ram Asre. In view of the above discussion, both the revision petitions are found to be without any merit and as such, the same are hereby dismissed, however, without any order as to costs. A photocopy of this order be placed on the file of another connected case. March 22, 2011. (RAKESH KUMAR JAIN) vinod* JUDGE