Case: P.J. Gupta &amp; Company Vs. K. Venkatesan Merchant &amp; Others

referred to as the amending Act) which omits clause (iii) from Section 30 of the Act, the appellant was protected from eviction. He relied strongly on Section 3 of the Amending Act which reads as follows:"3. Certain pending proceedings to abate. Every proceeding in respect of any non-residential building or part thereof pending before any Court or other authority or officer on the date of the publication of this Act in the Fort St. George Gazette and instituted on the ground that such building or part was exempt from the provisions of the principal Act by virtue of clause (iii) of Section 30 of the principal Act shall abate in so far as the proceeding relates to such building or part. All rights and privileges which may have accrued before such date to any landlord in respect of any non residential building or part thereof by virtue of clause (iii) of Section 30 of the principal Act shall cease and determine and shall not be enforceable:Provided that nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to invalidate any suit or proceeding in which the decree or order passed has been executed or satisfied in full before the date mentioned in this section"6. The effect of Section 30 of the Act containing clause (iii) which was omitted by the Amending Act may be set out in the language of Section 30 itself:"30.Nothing contained in this Act, shall apply to:-(i) xxx xxx(ii) xxx xxx(iii)Any non-residential building, the rental value of which on the date of the commencement of this Act as entered in the property tax assessment book of the Municipal Council. District Board Panchayat or Panchayat Union Council or the Corporation of Madras as the case may be, exceeds four hundred rupees per mensem".7. The obvious result of S. 30 (iii) of the Act, as it stood before the amendment was that if the rental value of a non-residential building as entered in the property tax book of the Municipality exceeded Rs. 400/- per mensem a description which applies to the premises under consideration before us, the landlord would have no right to proceed against the tenant for eviction under Section 10(2) (ii) (a) of the Act. Section 3 of the Amending Act on the face of it, applies to two kinds of cases. Its heading is misleading in so far as it suggests that it is meant to apply only to one of these two kinds. It applies: firstly to cases in which a proceeding has been instituted "on the ground" that a non-residential building "was exempt from the provisions of the principal Act" by "virtue of clause (iii) of Section 30 of the principal Act" and is pending and secondly to cases where " rights and privileges which may have accrued before such date to any landlord in respect of non-residential building by virtue of clause (iii) of Section 30 of the principal Act"exist. In the kind of case falling in the first category the amendment says that the pending proceedings shall abate.As regards the second kind of case the amendment says that "the rights and privileges of the landlord shall cease and determine and shall not be enforceable"8. On admitted facts the proceedings under Section 10 (2) (ii) (a) of the proceedings under Section 10(2) (ii) (a) of the Act now before us could not fall under the 1st category of cases contemplated by Section 3. And we have been unable to see how any "rights or privileges of the landlord" in respect of any non-residential building which could have conceivably accrued or existed "by virtue of clause (iii) of Section 30 of the principal Act", are involved here Whatever rights the landlord respondent had acquired, were due to the omission of clause (iii) from Section 30 of the Act by the amending Act of 1964 only. Prior to the amendment, the effect of Section 30, clause (iii) of the Act was that the landlord had no right to proceed under Section 10(2) (ii) (a) of the Act. The effect of the amendment is that the landlord acquires a new right by the removal of this disability. Section 3 of the Amending Act could not possibly be so interpreted as to defeat the object of Section 2 which clearly amplifies the previously limited remedy by removing a restriction upon its use. Hence we fail to see how any argument built around Section 3 of the Amending Act could help the appellant at all. Apparently this is the reason why on such argument was advanced anywhere earlier. It is not necessary for the purposes of the case before us to speculate about the types of cases which may actually fall within the two wings of the obviously unartistically drafted Section 3 of the Amending Act. It is enough for us to conclude as we are bound to on the language of the provision that the case before us falls outside it.9. Learned counsel for the respondent has, quite correctly, contended that the right itself was created by the amendment of 1964 so far as the landlord respondent is concerned. Before that the special remedy provided by the Act was denied to him because of the nature of the premises let and its monthly rent. Its benefit was extended to him in 1964 so that after the amendment he could use the procedure contained in Section 10 of the Act. The amendment received the assent of the President on 5-6-1964 and was published in the State Gazette on 10-6-1964. The proceeding under Section 10 (2) (ii) (a) of the Act was commenced in December 1964. We find no force whatsoever in the appeal before us. The parties agree that the appellants will get six months from today to vacate the premises. Subject to the undertaking by the appellants will get six months from today to vacate the premises. Subject to the undertaking by the appellants and respondent landlord to give effect to this agreement this appeal is dismissed with costs.10.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 0

Explanation:
0[ds]8. On admitted facts the proceedings under Section 10 (2) (ii) (a) of the proceedings under Section 10(2) (ii) (a) of the Act now before us could not fall under the 1st category of cases contemplated by Section 3. And we have been unable to see how any "rights or privileges of the landlord" in respect of any non-residential building which could have conceivably accrued or existed "by virtue of clause (iii) of Section 30 of the principal Act", are involved here Whatever rights the landlord respondent had acquired, were due to the omission of clause (iii) from Section 30 of the Act by the amending Act of 1964 only. Prior to the amendment, the effect of Section 30, clause (iii) of the Act was that the landlord had no right to proceed under Section 10(2) (ii) (a) of the Act. The effect of the amendment is that the landlord acquires a new right by the removal of this disability. Section 3 of the Amending Act could not possibly be so interpreted as to defeat the object of Section 2 which clearly amplifies the previously limited remedy by removing a restriction upon its use. Hence we fail to see how any argument built around Section 3 of the Amending Act could help the appellant at all. Apparently this is the reason why on such argument was advanced anywhere earlier. It is not necessary for the purposes of the case before us to speculate about the types of cases which may actually fall within the two wings of the obviously unartistically drafted Section 3 of the Amending Act. It is enough for us to conclude as we are bound to on the language of the provision that the case before us falls outside it.9. Learned counsel for the respondent has, quite correctly, contended that the right itself was created by the amendment of 1964 so far as the landlord respondent is concerned. Before that the special remedy provided by the Act was denied to him because of the nature of the premises let and its monthly rent. Its benefit was extended to him in 1964 so that after the amendment he could use the procedure contained in Section 10 of the Act. The amendment received the assent of the President on 5-6-1964 and was published in the State Gazette on 10-6-1964. The proceeding under Section 10 (2) (ii) (a) of the Act was commenced in December 1964. We find no force whatsoever in the appeal before us. The parties agree that the appellants will get six months from today to vacate the premises. Subject to the undertaking by the appellants will get six months from today to vacate the premises. Subject to the undertaking by the appellants and respondent landlord to give effect to this agreement this appeal is dismissed with costs.It is clear from the majority view of this Court in M/s. Raval and Co. v. K.G. Ramachandran, AIR 1974 SC 818  at p. 823 dismissing an appeal from a judgment of the Full Bench of Madras High Court reported in AIR 1967 Mad 57 (FB) that the Act "has a a scheme of its own and it is intended to provide a complete code in respect of both contractual tenancies as well as what are popularly called statutory tenancies". In mother words the special procedure provided by the Act displaces the requirements of the procedure for eviction under the Transfer of Property Act and by an ordinary civil suit. Therefore we need not concern ourselves with the provisions of Transfer of Property Act. We need only determine here whether the landlord respondent satisfied the conditions of Section 10(2) (ii) (a) of the Act set out above. The High had held that ahad undoubtedly taken place in 1957. The Simall Cause Court had considered this fact to be immaterial on the ground that the provisions of the Act did not apply to a case such as the one before us which was in its opinion governed by the provisions of the Transfer of Property Act only. We think that the provisions of the Act must necessarily apply to all tenancies. A tenancy is essentially based on and governed by an agreement or contract even when a statute intervenes to limit the area within which an agreement or contract operates or subjects contractual rights to statutory rights and obligations. In the case before us thewas certainly subsequent to 1945 so that on the plain language of the provision theof 1957 would be covered by section 10 (2) (ii)(a) of the Act.The obvious result of S. 30 (iii) of the Act, as it stood before the amendment was that if the rental value of abuilding as entered in the property tax book of the Municipality exceeded Rs. 400/per mensem a description which applies to the premises under consideration before us, the landlord would have no right to proceed against the tenant for eviction under Section 10(2) (ii) (a) of the Act. Section 3 of the Amending Act on the face of it, applies to two kinds of cases. Its heading is misleading in so far as it suggests that it is meant to apply only to one of these two kinds. It applies: firstly to cases in which a proceeding has been instituted "on the ground" that abuilding "was exempt from the provisions of the principal Act" by "virtue of clause (iii) of Section 30 of the principal Act" and is pending and secondly to cases where " rights and privileges which may have accrued before such date to any landlord in respect ofbuilding by virtue of clause (iii) of Section 30 of the principal Act"exist. In the kind of case falling in the first category the amendment says that the pending proceedings shall abate.As regards the second kind of case the amendment says that "the rights and privileges of the landlord shall cease and determine and shall not be enforceable"