{"id":140720,"date":"2009-01-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-01-28T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/sudarshan-kumar-bhatia-vs-dharam-pal-sharma-on-29-january-2009"},"modified":"2018-08-27T03:41:00","modified_gmt":"2018-08-26T22:11:00","slug":"sudarshan-kumar-bhatia-vs-dharam-pal-sharma-on-29-january-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/sudarshan-kumar-bhatia-vs-dharam-pal-sharma-on-29-january-2009","title":{"rendered":"Sudarshan Kumar Bhatia vs Dharam Pal Sharma on 29 January, 2009"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"docsource_main\">Punjab-Haryana High Court<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_title\">Sudarshan Kumar Bhatia vs Dharam Pal Sharma on 29 January, 2009<\/div>\n<pre>Civil Revision No.3351 of 1996 (O&amp;M)                                 -1-\n\n           IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT\n                          CHANDIGARH\n\n                                 Civil Revision No.3351 of 1996 (O&amp;M)\n                                 Date of decision: 29.01.2009\n\n\nSudarshan Kumar Bhatia                                 .............. Petitioner\n\n                                      Vs.\n\n\nDharam Pal Sharma                                      .............Respondent\n\nPresent:   Mr. M.L. Sarin, Sr. Advocate with\n           Ms. Alka Sarin, Advocate\n           for the petitioner.\n\n           Mr. B.R. Mahajan, Advocate\n           for the respondent.\n\nCORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K. KANNAN\n\n1.         Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the\n           judgment ? Yes\n2.         To be referred to the Reporters or not ? Yes\n3.         Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest ? Yes\n                                 -.-\n\nK.KANNAN, J.\n<\/pre>\n<p>I.         Scope:\n<\/p>\n<p>1.         The above revision petition comes up for hearing after a report that<\/p>\n<p>has been obtained pursuant to the directions issued by this Court in an elaborate<\/p>\n<p>order dated 23.04.2003 to an application filed by a &#8220;specified landlord&#8221; under<\/p>\n<p>Section 13A complaining of subletting by the tenant and also requiring the<\/p>\n<p>premises for his bona fide use and occupation.\n<\/p>\n<p>II.        No prohibition or zoning or schedule for use for non-residential<br \/>\n           purpose in a residential area: (on facts)<\/p>\n<p>2.         The plea taken by the tenant was that the shop in occupation of the<\/p>\n<p>tenant was a non-residential building and the landlord was not entitled to secure<\/p>\n<p>eviction for a residential purpose. The Rent Controller found the plea of<\/p>\n<p>subletting to be not true but still held the requirement of the landlord to have<\/p>\n<p>been established, considering the fact that the demised shop premises was a<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\"> Civil Revision No.3351 of 1996 (O&amp;M)                                -2-<\/span><\/p>\n<p>part of an integral whole of residential building situated over a residential<\/p>\n<p>locality and hence held that the demised premises was required to be vacated.<\/p>\n<p>The directions of this Court became necessary to find out whether the demised<\/p>\n<p>premises was in any particular specification of zoning relating to the locality<\/p>\n<p>used for non-residential purposes. The interim order of this Court calling for<\/p>\n<p>report directed three questions to be answered:-\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>           &#8220;1.    Whether the building constructed by the landlord is in<\/p>\n<p>                  pursuant to a sanctioned plan by a competent authority or the<\/p>\n<p>                  scheme duly framed by a competent authority?\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>           2.     The character of the building has been defined to be<\/p>\n<p>                  residential or can be used for a mixed purpose.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>           3.     If no such constraints as aforesaid are applicable upon the<\/p>\n<p>                  premises, is the building existing or existed at the time of<\/p>\n<p>                  being let out, in the hub of the commercial area\/centre.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>3.        The Rent Controller has filed the report which reads as follows:-<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>                      &#8220;&#8230;&#8230;this court is constrained to hold that there was<\/p>\n<p>                      neither any sanctioned plan nor there was any necessity<\/p>\n<p>                      for the same nor any scheme has ever been framed by any<\/p>\n<p>                      competent authority.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                                 But originally as is clear from the statements<\/p>\n<p>                      of the witnesses of both the parties and documents placed<\/p>\n<p>                      on record, this shop in dispute was integral part of<\/p>\n<p>                      residential house as it has been constructed originally.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                                  But at the time when the shop was let out, the<\/p>\n<p>                      property in dispute was under the control of Gram<\/p>\n<p>                      Panchayat and cannot be said to be situated in the hub of<\/p>\n<p>                      commercial area&#8230;&#8230;&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>4.         From the reading of report, it is evident that there are particularly no<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\"> Civil Revision No.3351 of 1996 (O&amp;M)                               -3-<\/span><\/p>\n<p>zoning requirements in Amritsar and therefore, it is not possible to state that in<\/p>\n<p>a residential area, a tenant could not have been inducted for a non-residential<\/p>\n<p>use of a tenant or vice versa.\n<\/p>\n<p>III.       Full Bench Decision in Hari Mittal&#8217;s case explained:<\/p>\n<p>5.         Before me, the contention of the learned Senior Counsel for the<\/p>\n<p>revision petitioner is the decision of the Full Bench in Hari Mittal Vs. B.M.<\/p>\n<p>Sikka (1986-1) 89 PLR 1 dealt with a property falling within the jurisdiction<\/p>\n<p>of Chandigarh Administration where there are specified areas for residential<\/p>\n<p>and non-residential purposes. By consideration of the said decision, it could be<\/p>\n<p>seen that if a building is in a residential area and even if it is used for a non-<\/p>\n<p>residential purpose, it must be considered only as a residential building for<\/p>\n<p>attracting the provisions of Section 13A. For a proper appreciation of the rival<\/p>\n<p>contentions of the parties, it becomes essential to reproduce Section 13-A of<\/p>\n<p>the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949:-\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>           &#8220;13-A. A right to recover immediate possession of residential or<br \/>\n           scheduled building to accrue to certain persons.- Where a<br \/>\n           specified landlord at any time, within one year prior to or within one<br \/>\n           year after the date of his retirement or after his retirement but within<br \/>\n           one year of the date of commencement of the East Punjab Urban<br \/>\n           Rent Restriction (Amendment) Act, 1985, whichever is later, applies<br \/>\n           to the Controller along with a certificate from the authority<br \/>\n           competent to remove him from service indicating the date of his<br \/>\n           retirement and his affidavit to the effect that he does not own and<br \/>\n           possess any other suitable accommodation in the local area in which<br \/>\n           he intends to reside to recover possession of hsi residential building<br \/>\n           or scheduled building, as the case may be, for his own occupation,<br \/>\n           there shall accrue, on and from the date of such application to such<br \/>\n           specified landlord, notwithstanding anything contained elsewhere in<br \/>\n           this Act or in any other law for the time being in force or in any<br \/>\n           contract (whether expressed or implied), custom or usage to the<br \/>\n           contrary, a right to recover immediately the possession of such<br \/>\n           residential building or scheduled building or any part or parts of<br \/>\n           such building if it is let out in part or parts:\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                      Provided that in case of death of the specified landlord,<br \/>\n           the widow or widower of such specified landlord and in the case of<br \/>\n           death of such widow or widower, a child or a grand-child or a<br \/>\n           widowed daughter-in-law who was dependent upon such specified<br \/>\n           landlord at the time of his death shall be entitled to make an<br \/>\n           application under this Section to the Controller:-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                       (a)       in the case of death of such specified landlord,<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\"> Civil Revision No.3351 of 1996 (O&amp;M)                              -4-<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                             before the commencement of the East Punjab<br \/>\n                             Urban Rent Restriction (Amendment) Act, 1985,<br \/>\n                             within one year of such commencement;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                      (b)    in the case of death of such specified landlord,<br \/>\n                             after such commencement, but before the date of<br \/>\n                             his retirement, within one year of the date of his<br \/>\n                             death;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                      (c)    in the case of death of such specified landlord,<br \/>\n                             after such commencement and the date of his<br \/>\n                             retirement, with one year of the date of such<br \/>\n                             retirement.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>           and on the date of such application the right to recover the<br \/>\n           possession of the residential building or scheduled building, as the<br \/>\n           case may be, which belonged to such specified landlord at the time<br \/>\n           of his death shall accrue to the applicant;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                  Provided further that nothing in this section shall be so<br \/>\n           construed as conferring a right, on any person to recover possession<br \/>\n           of more than one residential or scheduled building inclusive of any<br \/>\n           part or parts thereof if it is let out in part or parts:\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                  Provided further that the Controller may give the tenant a<br \/>\n           reasonable period for putting the specified landlord or, as the case<br \/>\n           may be, the widow, widower, child, grand-child or widowed<br \/>\n           daughter-in-law in possession of the residential building or<br \/>\n           scheduled building, as the case may be, and may extend such time<br \/>\n           so as not to exceed three months in the aggregate.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                  Explanation:- For the purposes of this section, the expression<br \/>\n           &#8220;retirement&#8221; means termination of service of a specified landlord<br \/>\n           otherwise than by resignation.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>IV.        Section 13A could be invoked only for residential requirements<br \/>\n           of landlord from a tenant, who had a residential building for<br \/>\n           such purpose.\n<\/p>\n<p>6.         From the above Section, even as the title to the Section makes it<\/p>\n<p>clear, it deals with right to recover immediate possession of residential or<\/p>\n<p>scheduled building (underlining mine). It is an admitted case that it is not a<\/p>\n<p>scheduled building as defined under the Act. The only question is whether the<\/p>\n<p>property could be availed by a person who seeks to recover immediate<\/p>\n<p>possession of residential building. Since Hari Mitttal&#8217;s case (supra) referred to<\/p>\n<p>a portion of a residential building used for a non-residential purpose, which use<\/p>\n<p>was impermissible by the application of the restrictions of user under the<\/p>\n<p>relevant development rules, there was no difficulty for the Court to treat the<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\"> Civil Revision No.3351 of 1996 (O&amp;M)                               -5-<\/span><\/p>\n<p>property in possession of the tenant as a residential building to entitle a<\/p>\n<p>landlord to secure eviction. If on the other hand, the use of a portion of the<\/p>\n<p>building is admitted to be for a non-residential purpose and there is no<\/p>\n<p>prohibition in the local laws or regulations to prohibit such a user, it is a moot<\/p>\n<p>point if the landlord would be entitled to secure eviction under Section 13-A.<\/p>\n<p>Both the parties have placed authorities to support their respective contentions.<\/p>\n<p>7.         Learned Senior Counsel appearing for the revision petitioner refers<\/p>\n<p>to a decision of this Court in Dr. Jagjit Singh Mehta Vs. Dev Brat Sharma<\/p>\n<p>1987 HRR 680 which while dealing with the entitlement of a specified<\/p>\n<p>landlord to obtain eviction by resort to Section 13-A found the premises in<\/p>\n<p>dispute which was a shop disconnected from the rear part of residential house<\/p>\n<p>would come in the definition of only non-residential building, being a part of<\/p>\n<p>the building let out for the said purpose, coming within the definition of<\/p>\n<p>Section 2(d) read with Section 2(a) of the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction<\/p>\n<p>Act. Consequently it was held that the Rent Controller had no jurisdiction to<\/p>\n<p>order eviction under Section 13-A. This decision was affirmed by the Hon&#8217;ble<\/p>\n<p>Supreme Court in Dev Brat Sharma Vs. Dr. Jagjit Mehta 1990(2) AIRCJ 431.<\/p>\n<p>This decision, according to the counsel for the revision-petitioner, completely<\/p>\n<p>governs the issue at hand that the landlord had no right to resort to Section<\/p>\n<p>13-A to obtain eviction.     This situation is further expounded by several<\/p>\n<p>decisions in Raghbir Singh and others Vs. Ram Swarup and another<\/p>\n<p>Vol.CIV(1993-2) PLR 487; Gopi Ram Vs. Jagan Nath 2003(1) RCR 664;<\/p>\n<p>Nirmal Singh of Amritsar Vs. Kuldip Raj 1992(2) RCR 483; Shiv Kumar Vs.<\/p>\n<p>Krishan Kumar 1996(1) RCR 593. All these decisions referred to letting of<\/p>\n<p>portions of premises for non-residential purpose and the non-entitlement of<\/p>\n<p>landlord to obtain eviction for residential purpose under Section 13-A. In some<\/p>\n<p>decisions, the reference to the predominent use of the building had been<\/p>\n<p>referred to but the uniform view in all the decisions is that a landlord would not<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\"> Civil Revision No.3351 of 1996 (O&amp;M)                               -6-<\/span><\/p>\n<p>be entitled to invoke the provisons of Section 13-A in a case where the<\/p>\n<p>property is held for a non-residential purpose by the tenant and there was no<\/p>\n<p>bar for user of such premises for non-residential purpose.<\/p>\n<p>V.         Respondent&#8217;s contention, falacious:-\n<\/p>\n<p>8.         In response to the contentions raised by the learned Senior Counsel<\/p>\n<p>for the revision-petitioner, learned counsel for the respondent placed before me<\/p>\n<p>a chain of decisions that purports to hold the opposite view. Each one of the<\/p>\n<p>decisions have considered the issue of letting out a portion of the building<\/p>\n<p>which is an integral part of a larger portion of the remaining building and<\/p>\n<p>barring a few decisions, all other decisions have no bearing to interpretation of<\/p>\n<p>Section 13-A of the Act. In Sardarni Sampuran Kaur and anothers Vs. Sant<\/p>\n<p>Singh and another 1983 HRR 152, a Division Bench of this Court upheld the<\/p>\n<p>claim of the landlord for eviction on the ground that the building in possession<\/p>\n<p>of the tenant was in a dilapidated condition and the point for adjudication was<\/p>\n<p>whether a tenant, who was in possession of a demised premises, which was<\/p>\n<p>part and parcel of a bigger building was liable to be ejected in order to enable<\/p>\n<p>the landlord to reconstruct the dilapidated structure, if the other portion of the<\/p>\n<p>building in the possession of the landlord was found to be unsafe for human<\/p>\n<p>habitation. It must be pointed out that the decision was not rendered in the<\/p>\n<p>context of Section 13-A and the answer to the reference made to the Division<\/p>\n<p>Bench that if a substantial portion of the integrated larger building had become<\/p>\n<p>unsafe and unfit, the demand for eviction of the tenanted premises would be<\/p>\n<p>justified. Similar was the reasoning in Harnam Singh Vs. Krishan Kharma<\/p>\n<p>and others(1997-1) PLR 818 and other decisions in Pritpal Singh Vs.<\/p>\n<p>Devinder Kumar and another 2008(2) HRR 259; Kewal Krishan Vs.<\/p>\n<p>Bhagwani 1993 HRR 176; Rajinder Kumar Vs. Niranjan Lal and another<\/p>\n<p>2007(1) PLR 443.\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\"> Civil Revision No.3351 of 1996 (O&amp;M)                               -7-<\/span><\/p>\n<p>VI.        Ratio in Zenobia Bhanot&#8217;s case, explained:-\n<\/p>\n<p>9.         The two decisions which have specifically adverted to Section 13-A<\/p>\n<p>that support the contention of the landlord are the decisions in Bachan Lal Vs.<\/p>\n<p>Yogeshwar Lal Mehta 2006(2) RCR 395 and Harjit Singh Vs. M\/s Daya Ram<\/p>\n<p>Sat Narain 2003(1) RCR 270 (P&amp;H). Both the decisions considered the issue<\/p>\n<p>of application of Section 13-A of the Act in relation to a building, a portion of<\/p>\n<p>which had been rented out for a non-residential purpose. The former decision<\/p>\n<p>took a view that a portion of building used by a tenant as a shop ought to be<\/p>\n<p>considered as a residential building to which Section 13-A could apply. The<\/p>\n<p>latter decision held that if a building is used for both purposes i.e. residential<\/p>\n<p>and non-residential, it would be treated as a residential building and cannot be<\/p>\n<p>considered as non-residential building alone. It said no one would be entitled<\/p>\n<p>to covert a residential building into a non-residential building without the prior<\/p>\n<p>consent of the Rent Controller. The latter decision made specific reference to<\/p>\n<p>the observations of the Full Bench in Hari Mittal&#8217;s case (supra) and the order<\/p>\n<p>on reference by the Division Bench. The judgment also refers to a decision of<\/p>\n<p>the Hon&#8217;ble Supreme Court in <a href=\"\/doc\/454458\/\">Zenobia Bhanot vs. P.K. Vasudeva and<\/a> another<\/p>\n<p>1996(1) PLR 220 where the Hon&#8217;ble Apex Court had considered the issue<\/p>\n<p>relating to the requirement of a landlord under Section              13-A. Most<\/p>\n<p>significantly, the decision related to property in Chandigarh, where the zoning<\/p>\n<p>requirements for residential and non-residential purposes existed, a la Hari<\/p>\n<p>Mittal&#8217;s case. In that case the tenants were not contending that they were non-<\/p>\n<p>residential tenants. The issue before the Supreme Court was an interpretation<\/p>\n<p>placed in an earlier reasoning of this Court, while deciding Bhupinder Singh<\/p>\n<p>Vs. Zenobia Bhanot (1990) 2 PLR 335. The Supreme Court reversed the<\/p>\n<p>intepretation placed by this Court that the landlord, was had rented out several<\/p>\n<p>portions to more than tenant, could obtain eviction only in respect of one<\/p>\n<p>portion. The Supreme Court said that several portions which were a part of the<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\"> Civil Revision No.3351 of 1996 (O&amp;M)                              -8-<\/span><\/p>\n<p>integral whole could be claimed by landlord from even more than one tenant, if<\/p>\n<p>the need had been established. In the said decision, the Hon&#8217;ble Supreme Court<\/p>\n<p>was interpreting the Section in the context of proviso and it was not a case of<\/p>\n<p>any portion in the occupation of a tenant for non-residential purpose. Even if it<\/p>\n<p>was, being a property in Chandigarh, the relevant building regulations showed<\/p>\n<p>that the property was in a residential area. Non-residential use was prohibited<\/p>\n<p>and hence Section 13A was attracted. The reliance on this judgment of the<\/p>\n<p>Hon&#8217;ble Supreme Court was perhaps not justified. The ratio laid down by the<\/p>\n<p>Hon&#8217;ble Supreme Court, in my respectful view, was clearly misunderstood in<\/p>\n<p>Harjit Singh&#8217;s case (supra).\n<\/p>\n<p>VII.         The legal position re-stated:\n<\/p>\n<p>10.          The law laid down by this Court in Dr. Jagjit Singh Mehta Vs. Dev<\/p>\n<p>Brat Sharma 1987 HRR 680 as confirmed by the Hon&#8217;ble Supreme Court in<\/p>\n<p>1990 (2) AIRCJ 431 comprehensively answers the issue at hand and in view of<\/p>\n<p>the specific decision of Hon&#8217;ble Supreme Court on the subject, I uphold the<\/p>\n<p>contention of the revision petitioner and set aside the order of the Rent<\/p>\n<p>Controller. To postulate the correct proposition, I am to state that Section 13-A<\/p>\n<p>of the Act could be attracted only if any portion of the building or building in<\/p>\n<p>the hands of a tenant is for residential purpose. If the property is let for non-<\/p>\n<p>residential purpose and such user is not prohibited in terms of any zoning<\/p>\n<p>requirement, the application under Section 13-A cannot avail to the &#8220;specified<\/p>\n<p>landlord&#8221;.\n<\/p>\n<p>11.    The Revision petition is, therefore, allowed in the above terms.<\/p>\n<p>                                                       (K. KANNAN)<br \/>\n                                                            JUDGE<br \/>\nJanuary 29 , 2009<br \/>\nPankaj*\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Punjab-Haryana High Court Sudarshan Kumar Bhatia vs Dharam Pal Sharma on 29 January, 2009 Civil Revision No.3351 of 1996 (O&amp;M) -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Civil Revision No.3351 of 1996 (O&amp;M) Date of decision: 29.01.2009 Sudarshan Kumar Bhatia &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;.. Petitioner Vs. Dharam Pal Sharma &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;.Respondent Present: Mr. M.L. Sarin, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-140720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-high-court","category-punjab-haryana-high-court"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sudarshan Kumar Bhatia vs Dharam Pal Sharma on 29 January, 2009 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/sudarshan-kumar-bhatia-vs-dharam-pal-sharma-on-29-january-2009\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sudarshan Kumar Bhatia vs Dharam Pal Sharma on 29 January, 2009 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; 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