Summarize the following court judgment. Appeal No. 293 of 1963. Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated December 17	 1962 of the Gujarat High Court in Civil Revision Application No. 175 of 1960. G. B. Pai	 0. C. Mathur	 1. B. Dadachanji and Ravinder Narain	for the appellant. M. section K. Sastri and M. section Narasimhan	 for respondents Nos. 1 and 2. 326 August 14	 1963. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by GAJENDRAGADKAR J. This appeal by special leave raises a short question about the construction and effect of section 12(3)(a) of the Bombay Rents	 Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act	 1947	 (No. 57 of 1947) (hereinafter called 'the Act '). The appellant has been tenant of one room in a residential building known as Lalbang situated in Badekhan 's Chakla in the City of Surat since October 18	 1935. Under the rent note	 she is required to pay a monthly rent of Rs. 18. On October 12	 1949	 respondents 1 and 2 purchased the said property. It appears that on November 21	 1950	 they served a notice on the appellant to vacate the premises let out to her on the ground that she was in arrears of rent from July 1	 1950. On receiving the said notice	 the ap pellant paid a part of the rent	 but again fell into arrears	 and so	 the respondents served a second notice on her	 on February 7	 1951	 claiming arrears from October 1	 1950. The appellant did not vacate the premises	 nor did she pay all the arrears due from her. A third notice was accordingly served on her on March 27. 1953	 in which the respondents claimed to recover arrears from January 1	 1951	 that is to say	 arrears for two years and two months. A few days after this notice was served	 section 12(3) of the Act was amended by the Bombay Amending Act No. 61 of 1953	 and the amendment came into force on the 31st March	 1954. The respondents then filed the present suit against the appellant on April 12	 1954	 in which they asked for a decree for eviction against the appellant on the ground that they wanted the premises let out to the appellant bona fide for their personal use	 and that the appellant was in arrears for more than six months. This suit was resisted by the appellant on several grounds. Pending the hearing of the suit	 the appellant paid by installments in all Rs. 470 before the date of the decree	 so that at the date when the decree was passed	 no arrears were due from her. The learned trial judge upheld both the pleas made by the respondents and passed a decree for eviction against the appellant. He held that the respondents reasonably and bona fide required the property for their personal use and that the appellant was in arrears of rent for more than 327 six months. This decree was challenged by the appellant by an appeal preferred before the District Court at Surat. The learned District judge held that the respondents had failed to prove that they needed the premises reasonably and bona fide for their personal use	 but he accepted their case that the appellant was in arrears of rent for more than six months and that the suit fell within the scope of section 12(3) (a) of the Act. That is how the decree passed by the trial Court was confirmed in appeal. The appellant then chal lenged the correctness of this decree by a revisional petition filed before the Gujarat High Court. This petition ultimately failed and the decree passed against her was con firmed. It is against this decision that the appellant has come to this Court: and on her behalf. Mr. Pai has con tended that the High Court was in error in holding that the requirements of section 12(3) (a) as amended justified the pas sing of the decree against the appellant. It appears that section 12 of the Act has been amended from time to time. Before the Amending Act No. 61/1953 came into force	 the said section read thus: "12(1) A landlord shall not be entitled to the recovery of possession of any premises so long as the tenant pays or is ready to pay	 the amount of the standard rent and permitted increases	 if any	 and observes and performs the other conditions of the tenancy	 in so far as they are consistent with the provisions of this Act. (2)No suit for recovery of possession shall be instituted by a landlord against a tenant on the ground of non payment of the standard rent or permitted increases due	 until the expiration of one month next after notice in writing of the demand of the Standard rent or permitted increases has been served upon the tenant in the manner provided in section 106 of the . (3)No decree for eviction shall be passed in any suit if	 at the hearing of the suit	 the tenant pays or tenders in Court the standard rent or permitted increases then due together with the costs of the suit. " The explanation to this section dealt with cases where there was a dispute between the landlord and the tenant in regard to the amount of the standard rent. With that explanation 328 we are not concerned in the present appeal. It appears that the Bombay High Court interpreted the words "at the hearing of the suit" in section 12(3) as including the hearing of the appeal arising from the suit	 and so	 it was held that under section 12(3) of the Act	 an appeal Court cannot confirm a decree for eviction if before the passing of the order in appeal	 the tenant pays or tenders in Court the standard rent or permitted increases then due together with the costs of the suit and also appeal	 vide Dayaram Kashiram Shimpi vs Bansilal Raghunath Marwari(1). After section 12(3) was amended by the Amending Act 61 of 1953	 the words "at the hearing of the suit" were construed by the Bombay High Court to mean that the application which the tenant ran make offering to deposit the arrears due from him must be made before the Court of first instance and cannot be reserved to be made in the Court of appeal	 vide Laxminarayan Nandkishore Shravagi vs Keshardev Baijnath Narsaria(2). There is one more decision of the Bombay High Court to which reference must be made before dealing with the points raised for our decision in the present appeal. In Kurban Hussen Sajuddin vs Ratikant Nilkant and Anr.(3)	 it was held that the word "may" used in section 12(3) (a) as amended really meant "must" and that in cases where the conditions of the said provision were satisfied	 the Court had to pass a decree for the recovery of possession in favour of the landlord. It is in the light of these decisions that we have to consider the contention of the appellant that under section 12(3) (a) as amended	 it was not open to the Court to pass a decree for ejectment against her in the present proceedings. On behalf of the appellant Mr. Pai has emphasised the fact that the provisions of section 12	 sub sections (1) and (2) are mandatory and there can be no doubt that they imposed 	severe restrictions on the landlord 's right to sue the tenant in ejectment. He	 therefore	 contends that in construing the effect of section 12(3) (a)	 we must bear in mind the fact that the legislature has enacted the present statute and particularly the provisions of section 12 with a view to protect the interests of the tenant. He further contends that it (1) (2) A.I.R. 1959 Bom. 329 cannot be disputed that before section 12 (3)(a) was amended	 it was open to the tenant to pay the arrears at any time during the pendency of the suit	 or even during the pendency of the appeal	 and so	 when the tenant failed or neglected to pay the arrears due from her immediately after receiving the notice of demand from	 the landlord	 it is easy to imagine that she knew that her failure to pay the arrears of rent immediately on receiving the notice would not lead to her eviction and that she would have the option to deposit the amount as required by section 12(3) either in the trial Court or in the Court of Appeal. That being so	 he suggests that in order to avoid hardship to the tenant	 section 12(3)(a) should be read is requiring the landlord to issue a fresh notice after the amended section came into force. The notice given by the landlord prior to the date of the amendment did not convey to the tenant the knowledge that her failure to comply with it would necessarily lead to her ejectment	 and so	 the relevant provisions of this beneficent statute should be construed in a liberal way. That	 in substance	 is the first contention raised by Mr. Pai before us We are unable to accept this argument. What section 12(3)(a) requires is that in cases where there is no dispute between the landlord and the tenant regarding the amount of standard rent or permitted increases	 if the landlord is able to show that the tenant is in arrears for a period of six months or more and the said arrears continued in spite of the fact that a notice was served on him before the institution of the suit and no payment was made within a month thereafter	 the landlord is entitled to get a decree for ejectment against the tenant. It is true	 that section 12(3)(a) refers to a notice	 but in terms	 it refers to a notice served by the landlord as required by section 12(2)	 and in section 12(2) the legislature has made no amendment when it amended sub section (3). If we turn to section 12(2)	. it would be noticed that the notice given by the respondents to the appellant in the present case satisfies the requirements of the said sub section. The respondents told the appellant by their notice that arrears were due from her	 and there is no doubt that the arrears were not paid up by the appellant until the expiration of one month next after the notice in writing was served on her in that behalf 22 2 SC India/64 330 Section 12(2) never required the landlord to state to the tenant what the consequences would be if the tenant neg lected to pay the arrears demanded from him/her by the notice. Therefore	 if the notice served by the respondents on the appellant prior to the institution of the present suit is in order and it is shown that the arrears have not been paid as required	 then section 12(2) has been complied with. and it is on that footing that the case between the parties has to be tried under section 12(3)(a). Mr. Pai then contends that section 12(3)(a) seems to suggest that the neglect or failure of the tenant to make the payment of arrears must be subsequent to the date on which the Amending Act came into force. He relies on the fact that section 12(3)(a) refers to the case where the tenant "neglects to make payment ' of the rent. The section does not say "has neglected to make payment"	 says Mr. Pai. In our opinion	 there is no substance in this argument. The use of the word "neglect" in the present tense has to be construed in the light of the fact that the clause refers to the tenant neglecting to make payment of the rent until the expiration of one month next after receipt of the notice ' and that clearly would have made the .use of the past tense inappropriate. The position	 therefore	 is that if notice has been served as required by section 12(2) and the tenant is shown to have neglected to comply with the notice until the expiration of one month thereafter	 section 12(2) is satisfied and section 12(3) (a) comes into operation. Mr. Pai also argued that the right given to the tenant :to pay the arrears at the hearing of the suit was a vested right	 and so	 in construing section 12(3)(a) we should not adopt the construction which would defeat that vested right. It is not easy to accept the contention that the provisions of section 12(3)(a) really confer any vested right as such on the tenant. What section 12(3)(a) provided was that a decree 	shall not be passed in favour of the landlord in case the tenant pays or tenders in Court the standard rent at the 	hearing of the suit. This provision cannot prima facie be said to confer any right or vested right on the tenant. But even if the tenant had a vested right to pay the money in court at the hearing of the suit	 we do not see how that consideration can alter the plain effect of the words used in section 12(3)(a). The suit was filed after the amended 331 section came into force	 and clearly the amended provision applies to the suit and governs the decision of the dispute between the parties. If that is so	 the plain meaning of section 12(3) (a) is that if a notice is served on the tenant and he has not made the payment as required within the time specified in section 12 (3) (a)	 the Court is bound to pass a decree for eviction against the tenant. That is the view taken by the Gujarat High Court and we are satisfied that that view clearly gives effect to the provisions of section 12(3)(a) as amended in 1953. We must accordingly hold that there is no substance in the appeal. The appeal	 therefore	 fails and is dismissed with costs.

The appellant was a tenant of the respondents occupying one 	room of a building belonging to them. She was in arrears of rent	. The respondents served a notice on her claiming to recover arrears of rent for a period of two years and two months. A few days after the service of this notice the Bombay Rents	 Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act	 1947	 which governs this case was amended. The respondents thereafter filed a suit for the eviction of the appellant on the ground that they required the premises for bona fide personal use and on the ground that the appellant was in arrears of rent for more than 6 months. The suit was resisted by the appellant on several grounds but pending the hearing of the suit and before the decree was passed she deposited the entire rent due from her. The trial Judge upheld both the contentions of the respondent and decreed the eviction of the appellant. On appeal the District Judge rejected the contention of bona fide personal use put forward by the respondent but found that the appellant was in arrears of rent and dismissed the appeal. The revision filed by the present 325 appellant failed; the present appeal is by way of special leave granted by this Court. It was contended on behalf of the appellant that the provisions of section 12(1) and (2) were mandatory and that in construing section 12(3) (a) it must be borne in mind that the object of the statute and particularly section 12 was to give protection to the tenant It was further contended that before section 12(3)(a) was amended it was open to the tenant to pay the arrears at any time during the pendency of the suit or even during the pendency of the appeal. In order to avoid hardship to the tenant section 12(3)(a) should be read as requiring the landlord to issue a fresh notice after the amended section came into force. It was also urged that section 12(3)(a) suggests that the neglect or failure of the tenant to make the payment of arrears must be subsequent to the date on which the amendment came into force. Lastly it was argued that the right given to the tenant to deposit arrears was a vested right and therefore section 12(3)(a) should not be construed in such a way as to take away this vested right. Held : (i) section 12(3)(a) refers to a notice served by the landlord as required by section 12(2) and in section 12(2) the legislature has made no amendment when it amended sub section The notice served by the appellant in the present case satisfies the requirements of section 12(2). If the notice has been served as required by section 12(2) and the tenant is shown to have neglected to comply with the notice until the expiry of one month thereafter section 12(2) is satisfied and section 12(3)(a) comes into operation. (ii)S. 12(3)(a) does not confer any right or vested right on tenant and even if such a right is conferred it would not alter the plain effect of the words of section 12(3)(a). The plain meaning of section 12( 3)(a) is that if a notice is served on the tenant and he hap	 not made the payment as required within the time specified in section 12(3)(a) the court is bound to pass a decree of eviction against the tenant. The appeal is dismissed. Dayaram Kashiram Shimpi vs Bansilal Ragkunath Marwari	 	 Laxminarayan Nandkishore Shravagi vs Keshardev Baijnath Narsaria	 and Kurban Hussen Sajauddin vs Ratikant Nilkant	 A.I.R. 1959 Bom.