IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
Reportable
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NO.3372 OF 2008
(Arising out of SLP [C] No.18453/2006)
Niyas Ahmad Khan ... Appellant (s)
Versus
Mahmood Rahmat Ullah Khan & Anr. ... Respondent (s)
ORDER
R.V.RAVEENDRAN, J.
Leave granted. Heard both sides.
2. The appellant is the tenant and the respondents are the landlords. On
allotment of the premises which is the subject matter of the proceedings to
the appellant, the rent was fixed as Rs.150/- per month under section 16(9)
of the U.P.Urban Buildings (Regulation of Letting, Rent and Eviction) Act,
1972 (`Act’ for short) in the year 1985. The respondents initiated
proceedings for eviction of the appellant under section 21(1)(a) of the Act in
the year 1998, on the ground that they required the premises for their own
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use. The Prescribed Authority dismissed the petition for eviction and that
was confirmed by the Appellate Authority by dismissing the appeal by the
respondents. Feeling aggrieved, the respondents filed a writ petition before
the Allahabad High Court under Article 226/227 of the Constitution of
India.
3. While admitting the said writ petition filed by the landlords, a learned
Single Judge of the Allahabad High Court issued an interim direction dated
17.10.2006 to the tenant (appellate herein) to pay rent at the rate of
Rs.12,050/- per month with effect from October, 2006 with a further
direction that if the rent at that rate is not paid for two consecutive months,
the landlord could evict the tenant by coercive process with the aid of
police. The learned Judge has justified his interim direction on the ground
that in exercise of writ jurisdiction the High Court can reasonably increase
the rent so as to bring it on par with the prevailing market rentals. The
increased rent was assessed in the following manner :
(i) Rent for six rooms (at Rs.1500/- per room) Rs.9000/-
(ii) Kitchen Rs. 500/-
(iii) Three verandahs (at Rs.500/- per verandah) Rs.1500/-
(iv) Open terrace Rs. 300/-
(v) Three latrines/bathrooms (at Rs.250 each) Rs. 750/-
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TOTAL Rs.12,050/-
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The tenant has challenged the said interim order of the High Court in this
appeal by special leave.
4. The premises in question is governed by the provisions of the Act.
The said Act contains provisions relating to fixation of standard rent and for
increase in rent. Where the statute specifically provides for fixation of rent
and increase in rent, it is impermissible for the High Court to ignore those
provisions and direct the tenant to pay an arbitrarily assessed rent. Neither
the power of judicial review under Article 226 nor the power of
superintendence under Article 227, can be exercised in a manner ignoring or
violating the specific provisions of a statute. While purporting to exercise
the power under Article 227 to keep inferior courts and tribunals within the
limits of their authority, the High Court should not itself cross the limits of
its authority.
5. In this case, the landlord filed an eviction petition seeking possession
on the ground that they bona fide required the suit premises for their own
use. The said request was rejected both by the Prescribed Authority and by
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the Appellate Authority. The landlord therefore approached the High Court
challenging the said rejection by filing a writ petition. The prayer in the writ
petition was for quashing the orders of the Prescribed Authority and the
Appellate Authority and for grant of an order of eviction. There was no
prayer for a direction for payment of any rent or for payment of any
increased rent. When the grievance in the writ petition was only in regard to
refusal of an order of eviction under section 21(1)(a) of the Act, there is no
justification for directing payment of a higher rent either pending
consideration of the writ petition or otherwise.
6. Even assuming that the High Court has power to increase the rent, we
fail to understand how in the absence of any evidence — either oral or
documentary or by way of affidavit, the learned Single Judge could assess
the rent as Rs.12,050 which is more than 48 times, the rent of Rs.250 earlier
determined. The learned Single Judge did not consider any of the relevant
circumstances like the market value of the building on the date of letting,
prevailing rentals in the locality as on the date of letting, the size or
situation or amenities, age of construction, latest assessment of the building
or other circumstances. Further, when a premises consisting of several
rooms, verandahs, kitchen, terrace, bathrooms, latrines, is let out as a single
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unit, the question of assessing the rent with reference to each room or
portion of such premises separately does not arise. The learned Judge’s
observation that by taking a pragmatic approach he was assessing the rent at
Rs.12,050, to say the least, is arbitrary and contrary to law.
7. The learned counsel for respondent-landlord submitted that in several
cases, this court has rejected the challenge to similar orders by refusing to
grant special leave. Dismissal of a special leave petition, in limine does not
preclude this Court from examining the same issue in other cases. Further,
where the rent is increased reasonably, having regard to the fact that the
interim direction is purely a temporary arrangement during the pendency of
the writ petition, it is possible that this Court might have refused to interfere
under Article 136 of the Constitution of India. Every wrong or doubtful
exercise of jurisdiction does not call for grant of special leave, particularly if
the order has not resulted in any injustice. In fact, in several cases, this
Court has set aside the similar interim directions for payment of excessive
rents.
8. We should however note the distinction between cases where a writ
petition is filed by the tenant challenging the order of eviction and seeking
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stay of execution thereof, and cases where a writ petition is filed by the
landlord challenging the rejection of a petition for eviction. What we have
stated above is with reference to writ petitions filed by landlords. In writ
petitions filed by tenants, while granting stay of execution of the order of
eviction pending disposal of writ petition, the High Court has the discretion
to impose reasonable conditions to safeguard the interests of the landlord.
But even in such cases the High Court cannot obviously impose conditions
which are ex facie arbitrary and oppressive thereby making the order of stay
illusory. When a tenant files a writ petition challenging the order of
eviction, the High Court may reject the writ petition if it finds no merit in
the case of the tenant; or in some cases, the High Court may admit the writ
petition but refuse to grant stay of execution, in which event, the tenant may
be evicted, but can claim restoration of possession if he ultimately succeeds
in the writ petition; or in some cases, the High Court finding the case fit for
admission, may grant stay of eviction, with or without conditions, so that
status quo is maintained till the matter is decided. Where the High Court
chooses to impose any conditions in regard to stay, such conditions should
not be unreasonable or oppressive or in terrorem. Adopting some arbitrary
figure as prevailing market rent without any basis and directing the tenant to
pay absurdly high rent would be considered oppressive and unreasonable
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even when such direction is issued as a condition for stay of eviction. High
Court should desist from doing so.
9. To sum up, in writ petitions by landlord against rejection of eviction
petitions, there is no scope for issue of any interim direction to the tenant to
pay higher rent. But in writ petitions by tenants against grant of eviction, the
High Court may, as a condition of stay, direct the tenant to pay higher rent
during the pendency of the writ petition. This again is subject to two
limitations. First, the condition should be reasonable. Second, there should
not be any bar in the respective State rent control legislation in regard to
such increase in rent. Be that as it may.
10. The appeal is allowed and the order dated 17.10.2006 passed by the
High Court directing the tenant to pay rent at the rate of Rs.12050/- per
month from October, 2006 is set aside.
……………………………J.
(R V Raveendran)
New Delhi; ...............................J.
May 5, 2008. (Lokeshwar Singh Panta)
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