PETITIONER:
SMT. PRAKASH MEHRA
Vs.
RESPONDENT:
K.L. MALHOTRA
DATE OF JUDGMENT27/04/1989
BENCH:
PATHAK, R.S. (CJ)
BENCH:
PATHAK, R.S. (CJ)
NATRAJAN, S. (J)
CITATION:
1989 AIR 1652 1989 SCR (2) 744
1989 SCC (3) 74 JT 1989 (2) 262
1989 SCALE (1)1136
ACT:
Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958: s.
14(1)(a)--Eviction--Notice of demand for arrears of
rent--Satisfaction of--Held, arrears of rent due cannot be
extended to rent falling due after service of notice.
HEADNOTE:
The respondent-tenant fell into arrears of rent for two
months consecutively. The rent was payable in advance. He
was served with a notice of demand, within seven days of
which he sent a bank draft purporting to be the rent for the
first month, and within a month another bank draft for the
like amount. The landlady neither encashed nor returned
them. After the notice period she filed an application for
his ejectment.
The Rent Controller held that the tenant was not in
default. The Tribunal, however, found that when the notice
of demand was served the arrears of rent for the two months
had arisen, that the bank draft sent thereafter related to
the rent for the first month only, that as the rent for the
second month had also become due but had not been tendered,
the landlady was justified in not accepting the tender, and
that when the respondent again sent a draft for the second
month the rent for the third month had also fallen due but
was not tendered. It thus took the view that the respondent
had not tendered the arrears of rent due up-to-date within
two months of the notice of demand, and held that the ground
of non-payment of rent stood established.
Allowing the appeal, the High Court took the view that
s. 14(1)(a) of the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958 made out a
ground for eviction only where the tenant had neither paid
nor tendered the whole of the arrears of rent legally recov-
erable from him within two months of the date on which a
notice of demand was served on him by the landlord, the
arrears being the rent due on the date of the notice. As in
the instant case, the notice called for payment of the
arrears due for the two months and the bank drafts were
tendered within the period indicated in the notice, the
notice was satisfied.
Dismissing the appeal by special leave, the Court,
745
HELD: The arrears of rent envisaged by s. 14(1)(a) of
the Delhi Rent Control Act are the arrears demanded by the
notice for payment. The arrears of rent due cannot be ex-
tended to rent which has fallen due after service of the
notice. [747DE]
In the instant case, the two bank drafts representing
the arrears of rent covered by the notice of demand had been
tendered within two months of the date of service of the
notice. The High Court was, therefore, right in the view
taken by it. [747DE]
Jag Ram Nathu Ram v. Shri Surinder Kumar, S.A.O. No. 52
of 1975 and S.L. Kapur v. Dr. Mrs. P.D. Lal, All India Rent
Control Journal, [1975] 322, overruled.
JUDGMENT:
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 3119 of
1984.
From the Judgment and Order dated 20.9.1982 of the Delhi
High Court in S.A.O. No. 181 of 1979.
Dr. Y.S. Chitale and Mukul Mudgal for the Appellant.
R.K. Garg, Gopal Singh, L.R. Singh and Mrs. Vimal Sinha
for the Respondent.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by:
PATHAK, CJ. This is a landlady’s appeal by special
leave arising out of proceedings for the ejectment of the
respondent-tenant.
The appellant let out the premises in suit to the
respondent on 1 September, 1962, the rent being stipulated
as payable in advance. With effect from 1 January, 1972 the
rent payable was Rs. 515 per month. On 29 November, 1972,
the contractual tenancy was determined by notice. The re-
spondent received a notice on 7 May, 1976 calling upon him
to pay the arrears of-rent. The rent in fact had been re-
ceived upto 31 March, 1976 and, therefore, when the notice
of demand was served on the appellant, rent for the months
of April and May 1976 had fallen due. The rent was payable
in advance.
On 13 May, 1976, the respondent offered a bank draft of
Rs.515 to the appellant. The appellant refused to accept it.
Two days later, the respondent sent the same bank draft by
registered post. The appellant
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received the bank draft and retained it. On 7 June, 1976,
the appellant wrote to the respondent informing him that his
tender was not valid. On 11 June, 1976, the appellant sent
another bank draft for Rs.515 to the landlady, and this
draft again was neither encashed nor returned.
On 2 August, 1976, the appellant filed an application
for ejectment out of which the present appeal arises. After
filing the application for ejectment, the appellant informed
the respondent that both the bank drafts sent by him were
lying uncashed.
The Additional Controller, Delhi, dismissed the eviction
petition holding that the tenant was not in default. The
Rent Control Tribunal, Delhi, noted that the rent was pay-
able in advance in accordance with the agreement between the
parties, that the respondent had earlier enjoyed the benefit
of section 14(2) of the Act, that when the notice of demand
was served on 7 May, 1976 the arrears of rent for the months
of April and May 1976 had arisen, that the bank draft sent
on 13 May, 1976 related to the rent of April 1,976 only,
that as the rent for the month of May 1976 had also become
due but had not been tendered, the landlady was justified in
not accepting the tender, and that when the respondent again
sent a draft on 11 June, 1976 to cover the rent for the
month of May 1976 the rent for the month of June 1976 had
also fallen due but was not tendered. Holding that the
respondent had not tendered the arrears of rent due up-to-
date within two months of the notice of demand, the Tribunal
held that the ground of non-payment of rent stood estab-
lished. The Tribunal noted that the rent had not been paid
for the months of April, May and June 1976 in advance for
each month and, therefore, the respondent had committed
three consecutive defaults. That being so, the Tribunal
observed, the respondent was not entitled to the benefit of
s. 14(2) again.
In second appeal, the High Court reversed the decision
of the Rent Control Tribunal and dismissed the application
for ejectment upon the finding that the notice demanding the
arrears of rent related to the months of April and May 1976,
and as one draft had been sent on 13 May, 1976 and another
on 11 June, 1976 representing a total of two months’ rent,
and as this rent had been paid within two months of the
service of notice of demand, it must be taken that the rent
due at the time of the service of notice of demand had been
tendered by the respondent to the appellant. The High Court
proceeded on the view that s. 14(1)(a) of the Act made out a
ground for eviction only where the tenant had neither paid
nor tendered the whole of the arrears of rent legally recov-
erable from him within two months of the date on
747
which a notice of demand for the arrears of rent was served
on him by the landlord, the arrears being the rent due on
the date of the notice. In this case, the High Court said,
as the notice called for payment of the arrears due for the
months of April and May 1976 and the bank drafts were ten-
dered within the period indicated in the notice, the notice
was satisfied and no default could be said to have been
committed in terms of s. 14(1)(a) of the Act. Accordingly,
the High Court allowed the appeal and dismissed the applica-
tion for ejectment.
It is urged before us by learned counsel for the appel-
lant that s. 14(1)(a) of the Act contemplates the payment or
tender of the whole of the arrears of rent legally recovera-
ble from the tenant on the date when the demand notice is
sent including the rent which has accrued after service of
the demand notice. When the notice was sent on 7 May, 1976,
rent for the months of April and May 1976 had become due,
and as two months was given for payment of the arrears, it
would include also the rent which had accrued during the
said period of two months. We are not satisfied that there
is substance in the contention. The arrears of rent envis-
aged by s. 14(1)(a) of the Act are the arrears demanded by
the notice for payment of arrears of rent. The arrears due
cannot be extended to rent which has fallen due after serv-
ice of the notice of demand. In this case, the two bank
drafts representing the arrears of rent covered by the
notice of demand had been tendered within two months of the
date of service of the notice of demand. The High Court is
fight in the view taken by it. We are not satisfied that the
construction placed by B.C. Misra, J. in Jag Ram Nathu Ram
v. Shri Surinder Kumar, S.A.O. No. 52 of 1975 decided on 28
April, 1976 and in S.L. Kapur v. Dr. Mrs. P.D. Lal, All
India Rent Control Journal 1975 p. 322 lays down the control
law on the point.
In the result, the appeal fails and is dismissed but
there is no order as to costs.
P.S.S. Appeal dismissed.
748