Bombay High Court
A) Shri Lalitkumar Pravindas Sanghani vs // on 23 February, 2010
Author: R.C. Chavan
Bench: R.C. Chavan
WP 5521/2009 1 Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY,
NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR.
WRIT PETITION NO.5521 OF 2009
Manhar Auto Stores,
A Partnership concern through its
Partners :
(A) Shri Lalitkumar Pravindas Sanghani,
Aged adult, Occupation : Business,
(B) Shri Vipinkumar Manharlal Sanghani,
Aged adult, Occupation : Business,
(C) Smt. Chandaben Manharlal Sanghani,
Aged adult, Occupation : Household,
All residents of Savita Sadan, Morshi Road,
Amravati or
Vitrag, in front of Matoshree Building,
Pannalal Nagar, Amravati.
....PETITIONERS.
// VERSUS //
Shri Kalpesh Hemantbhai Shah,
Aged 28 years, Occupation : Legal
Practitioner, Resident of at present
Savita Sadan, Morshi, Amravati.
....RESPONDENT.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shri A.C.Dharmadhikari, Advocate for Petitioner.
Shri V.V. & R.M. Bhangde, Advocate for Respondent.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CORAM : R.C. CHAVAN, J.
DATED : FEBRUARY 23, 2010.
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WP 5521/2009 2 Judgment
ORAL JUDGMENT.
1. RULE. Made returnable forthwith by consent of the parties.
2. This petition by tenant is directed against judgment of learned District Judge-3, Amravati allowing Regular Civil appeal No.148 of 2008 before him, whereby he set aside judgment of the learned Civil Judge in Regular Civil Suit No.16 of 2007, dismissing the suit, and granting decree of petitioner's ejectment.
3. The facts, in the context of which this petition has arisen and which are material for deciding this petition and about which there need not be any serious dispute, are as under :
The petitioner was inducted as a tenant in respect of shop premises situated on ground floor of Savita-Sadan, Morshi Road, Amravati by respondent's grandfather Dr. Hansrajbhai Shah over thirty years ago. The petitioner runs a Auto Parts Shop in the said premises. Dr. Hansrajbhai Shah executed a registered Will in respect of his properties and bequeathed the shop to respondent. Dr. Hansrajbhai Shah died on 20th September, 1998. The respondent/ landlord, however, continued to stay with his parents. The respondent/ landlord is an Advocate by profession. He claimed that he wanted to setup his office and except the suit premises he had no other premises where he could set-up his office.
Therefore, he filed a suit seeking ejectment of the petitioner on the ground of ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 15:38:35 ::: WP 5521/2009 3 Judgment bona fide need under Section 16(1)(g) of the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999 (for short "Maharashtra Rent Act").
4. This suit was resisted by the petitioner, who questioned the Will. He also submitted that there was a dispensary of Dr. Hansrajbhai Shah admeasuring about 450 sq.ft. on the ground floor. In three rooms behind this dispensary admeasuring 500 sq.ft. there was office of landlord's father Hemantbhai Shah.
The tenant sought to submit that the dispensary premises, which had been vacant since the demise of Dr. Hansrajbhai, were available to the landlord. It was further stated that the petitioner did not have any other alternate accommodation and therefore, would suffer greater hardship if ordered to be evicted. The petitioner, therefore, prayed for dismissal of the suit.
5. The learned trial Judge struck necessary issues and held, upon considering of evidence tendered before him, that the respondent-landlord failed to prove that he had become owner of the premises by virtue of Will dated 22nd January, 1992, executed by Hansrajbhai Shah. He held that the landlord had not proved that he needed the premises bona fide or reasonably for his own use and therefore, concluded that the questions of comparative hardship or an inquiry into mesne-profit need not survive. Therefore, he dismissed the suit.
6. On an appeal, the learned District Judge, by his impugned judgment, ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 15:38:35 ::: WP 5521/2009 4 Judgment held that the respondent/ landlord had proved his title to the premises under the Will dated 22nd January, 1992 and consequently that the respondent was landlord in respect of the suit premises. He held that the landlord had proved that he bona fide and reasonably required the suit premises for his personal use and occupation. He concluded that greater hardship would be caused to the landlord by refusing decree of ejectment and therefore, proceeded to set aside the judgment under appeal and decreed the suit. Aggrieved thereby, the tenant has preferred this petition.
7. I have heard both, Shri Dharmadhikari, learned counsel for the petitioner-tenant and Shri V.V.Bhangde assisted by Shri R.M.Bhangde, learned counsel or the respondent-landlord.
8. The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the Will itself was not proved by tendering proper evidence and the learned District Judge was not justified in setting aside the findings recorded by the trial Judge on this issue.
Since the petitioner is not setting up a title in himself and is not stating that any of the heirs of Hansrajbhai have questioned the said Will, or have conveyed to him that they do not accept the Will, he has no locus to say that the Will was not properly proved. The Will has been tendered as a piece of evidence in the ejectment suit only to prove the supporting fact that the respondent has become owner of the property by inheriting the same from his grandfather. The Will itself ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 15:38:35 ::: WP 5521/2009 5 Judgment is not subject matter of challenge and could not have subject matter of challenge in the suit between landlord and tenant. It is not that the respondent is stranger.
It is not disputed that the respondent is grandson of Hansrajbhai and therefore, so long as the petitioner does not set up title in someone else or himself, his locus to question the Will is itself in doubt. In any case, the Will has been produced before the Court and has been duly proved by examining Advocate Smt. Madhavi Khare, who had drafted the Will and which had been attested by her own father, as also a clerk in the office of Sub-Registrar where the Will had been registered. In view of this, the learned Civil Judge was obviously wrong in concluding that the Will was not proved and the finding of the District Judge on this court cannot be assailed.
9. The learned counsel for the petitioner next submitted that by the Will all other properties are given to the landlord's parents, with whom the landlord still resides jointly. He sought to suggest that the Will was, therefore, created only to seek ejectment of the petitioner, by showing that the landlord possessed only this property. It would be difficult to attribute such a motive to the old man who is no more. Even if it is presumed for a while that the respondent's grandfather did give the shop to the respondent, excluding him from other properties, with the object that the respondent, who was in possession of the premises in question, it could not be said that the object was mala-fide. The respondent is a young man and has started his career as an Advocate and ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 15:38:35 ::: WP 5521/2009 6 Judgment therefore, would require to set himself up some day or the other and therefore, if he states that he requires the premises in question for setting up his office and points out to the non-availability of other premises to him, such a conclusion could not be assailed.
10. The leaned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the respondent is admittedly staying with his parents and therefore, the premises which are available to his parents, would be available for the respondent for setting up his office. Therefore, according to the learned counsel, the conclusions drawn by the learned District Judge that the premises were bona fide or reasonably required by the landlord for his own use, was erroneous.
11. The learned counsel for the respondent submitted that it cannot be disputed that no other premises, suitable for setting up an office, is shown to be available to the landlord. He has explained that the accommodation on the first floor of the house, which is said to be available, would be required by the landlord for his own residence since he was to get married soon. This can be got from paragraph 8 of the affidavit tendered in lieu of the examination-in-chief.
The premises were sought for the purpose of office and therefore, it cannot be said that the need indicated by the respondent was malafide or that the respondent falsely states that he needs the premises for setting up his own office as an Advocate.
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12. There are umpteen number of judgments of this and the Apex Court where it has been held that when the landlord indicates his need of the premises it need not be looked at with suspicion, and he need not be advised by the tenant as to how he should satisfy his need by going to other premises. The learned counsel for the respondent submitted that the view of superior courts in respect of the landlords' needs, in landlord-tenant disputes, has undergone change and a different trend is now discernible. For this purpose he sought to place reliance on the observations of the Apex Court in a matter arising out of the provisions of the Bombay Rent Act and the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, in State of Maharashtra Vs. Super Max International (P) Ltd., reported at (2009) 9 SCC 772. It may be useful to reproduce, for ready reference, observations of the Supreme Court in paragraphs 64 to 72 of the judgment, as under :
"64.It needs to be stated here that the decisions relied upon by Mr. Lalit are undoubtedly binding precedents for the respective issues decided in those cases but it is not possible to stretch those decisions in support of the point canvassed by him. We must also state here that on the basis of the aforementioned decisions Mr. Lalit was able to build up a persuasive argument. But in the larger perspective and with the change in times we find the submissions quite unacceptable.
65. Here it is important to bear in mind that all the decisions relied upon by Mr. Lalit, from Damadilal to H. Shiva Rao were rendered between 1976 to 1986 during the period when, to put it mildly, the Court used to be overly protective of the tenant and for good reasons too because that is the apparent thrust of the Rent Act.
66. The Rent Act was the socio-legal response to certain historical developments, namely, the acute shortage of housing in the aftermath of the World War, the great influx of refugees in a ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 15:38:35 ::: WP 5521/2009 8 Judgment number of States of the Union following the partition of the country and the massive migration inside the country from rural areas to the urban centres as a result of rapid urbanization. All these developments that took place almost at the same time skewed the law of supply and demand totally in favour of the landlord. The need of the hour, therefore, was to protect the tenant, who would have otherwise been left completely at the mercy of the landlord. The legislature intervened and brought in the Rent Act, severely restricting the grounds for enhancement of rent and for eviction of the tenant from the rented premises, thus regulating the relationship between the landlord and the tenant beyond the general law under the Transfer of Property Act, 1882. In this regard the Court responded in equal, if not grater measures. But after about three quarters of a century and three generations later when things are no longer the same and the urban centres are faced with newer problems, some of those having their origin in the Rent Act itself, there is the need to take a relook on the Court's attitude towards the relationship between the landlord and the tenant and to provide for a more level ground in the judicial arena.
67. The way this Court has been looking at the relationship between the landlord and the tenant in the past and the shift in the Court's approach in recent times have been examined in some detail in the decision in Satyawati Sharma V. Union of India. In that decision one of us (Shighvi, J.) speaking for the Court referred to a number of earlier decisions of the Court and (in para 12 of the judgment) observed as follows :
(SCC pp.304-05) "12.Before proceeding further we consider it necessary to observe that there has been a definite shift in the Court's approach while interpreting the rent control legislations.
An analysis of the judgments of 1950s to early 1990s would indicate that in majority of cases the courts heavily leaned in favour of an interpretation which would benefit the tenant - Mohinder Kumar V. State of Haryana, Prabhakaran Nair V. State of T.N., D.C. Bhatia V. Union of India and C.N. Rudramurthy v. K. Barkathulla Khan. In these and other cases, the Court consistently held that the paramount object of every rent control legislation is to provide safeguards for tenants against exploitation by landlords who seek to take ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 15:38:35 ::: WP 5521/2009 9 Judgment undue advantage of the pressing need for accommodation of a large number of people looking for a house on rent for residence or business in the background of acute scarcity thereof. However, a different trend is clearly discernible in the later judgments."
68. The learned Judge then referred to some later decisions and (in para 14 at SCC p. 306 of the judgment) quoted a passage from the decision in Joginder Pal v. Naval Kishore Behal, to the following effect : (Joginder Pal case, SCC p. 404, para 9) "14. ... 9. ... The courts have to adopt a reasonable and balanced approach while interpreting rent control legislations starting with an assumption that an equal treatment has been meted out to both the sections of the society. In spite of the overall balance tilting in favour of the tenants, while interpreting such of the provisions as to take care of the interest of the landlord the court should not hesitate in leaning in favour of the landlords. Such provisions are engrafted in rent control legislations to take care of those situations where the landlords too are weak and feeble and feel humble." (emphasis in original)
69. Commenting upon the Full Bench decision of the Delhi High Court that had upheld the constitutional validity of Section 14(1)(e) of the Delhi Rent Control Act and that came under challenge in Satyawati Sharma, Shighvi, J. (in para 29 of the judgment) observed as follows : (SCC p. 318) "29. ... It is significant to note that the Full Bench did not, at all, advert to the question whether the reason/ cause which supplied rationale to the classification continued to subsist even after lapse of 44 years and whether the tenants of premises let for non-residential purposes should continue to avail the benefit of implicit exemption from eviction in the case of bona fide requirement of the landlord despite see-saw change in the housing scenario in Delhi and substantial increase in the availability of buildings and premises which could be let for non-residential or commercial purposes."
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70. The decision in Satyawati Sharma then referred to the doctrine of temporal reasonableness and in para 32 observed as follows : (SCC p. 320) "32. It is trite to say that legislation which may be quite reasonable and rational at the time of its enactment may with the lapse of time and/ or due to change of circumstances become arbitrary, unreasonable and violative of the doctrine of equality and even if the validity of such legislation may have been upheld at a given point of time, the Court may, in subsequent litigation, strike down the same if it is found that the rationale of classification has become non-existent."
71. We reaffirm the views expressed in Satyawati Sharma and emphasis the need for a more balanced and objective approach to the relationship between the landlord and tenant. This is not to say that the Court should lean in favour of the landlord but merely that there is no longer any room for the assumption that all tenants, as a class, are in dire circumstances and in desperate need of the Court's protection under all circumstances. (The case of the present appellant who is in occupation of an area of 9000 sq.ft. in a building situate at Fort, Mumbai on a rental of Rs.5236.58, plus water charges at the rate of Rs.515.35 per month more than amply highlights the point.)
72. With the perspective thus adjusted, all the submissions made by Mr. Lalit on behalf of the appellant have a simple answer.
The interim order of the High Court asking the appellant to deposit Rs.5,40,000/- from the date of the decree as condition for stay of the execution of the decree of ejectment has to be seen as one single package. The appellant may or may not accept the order as a whole. But it is not open to it to accept the order insofar as it stays the execution of the decree and to question the condition attached to it."
13. The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the observations of the Apex Court have to be looked into in proper perspective and cannot be ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 15:38:35 ::: WP 5521/2009 11 Judgment understood to suggest that in spite of absence of change in the relevant statute, the law is re-written by the Court according to changing times. As I understood the judgment, the question is not one interpreting the provisions of the Bombay Rent Act or the Maharashtra Rent Act differently than the way it was done in the past, but one of looking at facts on the question of need of a landlord which would always subjective and had undergone a change in the circumstances now prevailing in the society. There could be no pronouncement of law and therefore, it is not that the Apex Court has suggested that previous judgments, rendered by the benches of larger strength in the Apex Court, are to be ignored in so far as provisions of the enactments are concerned but what is suggested is that the change in the situation in the society would require a factual reconsideration of the needs of landlords and tenants. Therefore, the judgment merely suggests that while examining the question of need of a landlord he need not be put in a dock or be required to feel that by building a house and letting it out he has committed some crime. In this perspective if the evidence of the respondent is looked at, it cannot be said that the learned District Judge is erred in holding that the bona fide need set up by the respondent was proved by him. Challenge by the petitioner to this finding has also to be rejected.
14. The learned counsel for the petitioner next submitted that even after proving the need under Section 16(1)(g) of the Maharashtra Rent Act, sub-section (2) of the said section enjoins the Court to consider whether the tenant would ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 15:38:35 ::: WP 5521/2009 12 Judgment suffer greater hardship if a decree of ejectment is passed. Sub-section (2) of the said section reads as under :
"16(2). No decree for eviction shall be passed on the ground, specified in clause (g) of sub-section (1), if the court is satisfied that, having regard to all the circumstances of the case including the question whether other reasonable accommodation is available for the landlord or the tenant, greater hardship would be caused by passing the decree than by refusing to pass it.
Where the court is satisfied that no hardship would be caused either to the tenant or to the landlord by passing the decree in respect of a part of the promises, the court shall pass the decree in respect of such part only.
Explanation - For the purposes of clause (g) of sub- section (1), the expression "landlord" shall not include a rent-
farmer or rent-collector or estate-manager."
15. The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that it is not disputed that the petitioner has established business in the said premises for over thirty years and it is not shown that any other premises are available to the petitioner to relocate his business. He points out that though reference was made in the respondent's affidavit in lieu of examination-in-chief that some other premises in 'Gulshan Tower' were available to the petitioner, no concrete evidence was tendered before the trial Court in respect of availability of such premises and therefore, such a premises cannot be held to be available to the petitioner. He submitted that while considering the question of 'comparative hardship' it has to be found out whether other reasonable accommodation is available to the landlord. If such accommodation is available it would have to be held that greater ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 15:38:35 ::: WP 5521/2009 13 Judgment hardship would be caused to the tenant by passing decree of ejectment. The respondent had stated in paragraph 8 of the plaint that the parents of the respondent are having office on the ground floor portion to which the plaintiff cannot have any access and cannot use the same. The petitioner had stated in paragraph 6 of the written statement that on the ground floor dispensary premises of Dr. Hansrajbhai, admeasuring 450 sq.ft. and three rooms admeasuring 500 sq.ft. are available. In the rooms office of respondent's father Hemantbhai is situated. It had been specifically stated in paragraph 7 of the written statement that the dispensary premises admeasuring 450 sq.ft. were lying vacant after the demise of Hansrajbhai. In the context of these pleadings the evidence of the plaintiff has to be read. The respondent/ plaintiff specifically stated in paragraph 8 of his affidavit that the premises indicated by the petitioner on the ground floor were occupied by his parents for their independent office and therefore, not available to the respondent. The respondent was cross-examined on this aspect.
He admitted in his cross-examination that behind the dispensary, excluding the dispensary, there are three rooms and the office of his father is situated in those three rooms. He had not stated that the office of his parents was situated even in the dispensary room. Thus, as a fact, the dispensary portion of the ground floor is still vacant.
16. The learned counsel for the petitioner next submitted that the respondent had categorically stated in his cross-examination that he is still joint in ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 15:38:35 ::: WP 5521/2009 14 Judgment mess as well as residence with his parents. The respondent had nowhere stated in his evidence about any pressure or even suggestion by his parents that the respondent should be finding his own accommodation. Therefore, according to the learned counsel for the petitioner, in the face of the fact that the respondent is joint in mess and residence with his parents and dispensary premises on the ground floor which are just adjacent to the suit premises are vacant, it was impermissible for the learned District Judge to conclude that the dispensary premises were not available to the landlord. If the premises were available to him, according to the learned counsel for the petitioner, the learned District Judge should have held that the tenant had made out a case that greater hardship would be caused to him by his ejectment than that by refusing the decree.
17. The learned counsel for the petitioner relied on a judgment of the Supreme Court in Badrinarayan Chunilal Bhutada V. Govindram Ramgopal Mundada, reported at 2003 AIR SCW 3307 where the Supreme Court was considering the analogous provisions of sub-section (2) of Section 13 of the Bombay Rent Act. The observations of the Court in paragraphs 7, 8, 9 and 11 of the judgment may be usefully reproduced as under :
"7. A perusal of the scheme of the Act, so far as the ground of reasonable and bona fide requirement by the landlord for occupation of residential or non-residential premises is concerned, shows that clause (g) of sub-sec. (1) of S. 13 contemplates a decree for eviction being passed on proof of availability of the ground according to law. In spite of a ground for eviction u/S. 13(1)(g) having been made out, the court deny the relief of eviction if the issue as to comparative hardship is answered ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 15:38:35 ::: WP 5521/2009 15 Judgment against the landlord and in favour of the tenant. Thus in a way S. 13(2) acts as a proviso to S. 13(1)(g); the former having an overriding effect on the latter. The burden of proving availability of ground for eviction under Section 13(1)(g) lies on the landlord; the burden of proving greater hardship so as to deprive the landlord of his established right to seek eviction lies on the tenant.
8. Sub-section (2) of S. 13 falls more appropriately within the domain of equitable or social justice. Section 13(2) obliges the Court, in spite of the finding as to reasonable and genuine requirement having been arrived at in favour of the landlord, to weigh in scales placing the hardship which would result to the landlord in case of denial of eviction in one balance pan and hardship likely to be suffered by the tenant in case of his being evicted in the other and then find out judiciously which way the balance tilts. An empty truism cannot be hardship. A failure of the landlord to make out a case for eviction under S. 13(1)(g) is not a hardship to landlord; so also on a case for eviction under S. 13(1)(g) having been made out the fact that the tenant will be liable to be evicted is not by itself hardship to tenant. A mere wish or desire of the landlord to acquire possession over the tenancy premises cannot be said to be a bona fide and reasonable requirement. Requirement implies an element of necessity. The necessity is a necessity without regard to the degree of which it may be. For the purpose of S. 13(2) the degree of urgency or the intensity of felt-need assumes significance. It is a judicious process of finding out, as far as practicable, and then making a comparative measure of the two degrees, which is involved in arriving at a finding on comparative hardship.
9. The family, the business background of the parties, the availability of accommodation with either parties or in the township, the extent of direness or pressing nature of the need for eviction as against the direness of need or urge of the tenant to continue to occupy or cling to the tenancy premises, with reasons therefor, assume relevance. The court may keep in view how the things would take shape in a reasonably foreseeable future in either event. The conduct of the parties, their mutual relationship may also be relevant. In spite of the availability of ground for eviction being legally sustainable, for the purpose of deciding the issue as to comparative hardship, the Court may take into consideration availability of such other premises with ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 15:38:35 ::: WP 5521/2009 16 Judgment the landlord, which though not necessarily alternative to the suit premises, may still be available to accommodate the proven requirement of the landlord. The fact that the tenant could have had shifted to other premises or has missed the opportunity of availing occupation of other premises or is likely to part with possession over other premises whereto his business can be or could have been shifted are all relevant factors for the purpose of S. 13(2) though may not be relevant for the purpose of S. 13(1)
(g). These are illustrative factors, incapable of being listed fully and precisely, which enter into the thinking process leading to formulation of opinion on comparative hardship.
10. ....
11. The Act does not lay down any guidelines or relevant factors based whereon the question of comparative hardship is to be decided. A slight indication is given in the first para of S. 13(2) that regard must be had to (i) all the circumstances of the case
(ii) including the question whether other reasonable accommodation is available for the landlord or the tenant. The expression 'other reasonable accommodation' as employed here does not mean an accommodation suitable in all respects as the suit accommodation is. The Legislature has chosen it appropriate to leave the determination of issue on sound discretion of the Court."
18. The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that, as observed by the Supreme Court in paragraph 8 for the purpose of considering the comparative hardship under sub-section (2) of Section 13 degree of urgency or intensity of the felt-need assumes significance. He submitted that in the face of availability of the dispensary premises, and in the absence of any explanation on the part of the respondent about the premises being vacant, there would be no urgency for the respondent to secure the suit premises for setting up his office nor would his need for the premises for his office would be as intense as would have been the case had no such premises been available to him.
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19. The learned counsel for the petitioner also relied on a judgment of Division Bench of this Court in Letters Patent Appeal No. 173 of 2008 (Sharad Ramesh Kediya & oth. Vs. Suresh Gajananrao Raipurkar), where the Bench had found that consideration of question of comparative hardship by the District Court was cryptic and therefore, had remanded the matter back to the District Court giving the parties an opportunity to point out pleadings and evidence so as to enable the Court to deliver a fresh judgment in the matter. He submitted that observations of the District Court in the present case on the question of comparative hardship are also of the same category.
20. The learned counsel for the petitioner also relied on a judgment of learned single Judge in Civil Revision Application No.244 of 2007, delivered at Aurangabad, where the provisions of sub-section (2) of Section 16 of the Maharashtra Rent Act had been considered. The observations of the Court in paragraphs 10 and 11 of the judgment may be usefully reproduced as under :
"10. Sub-section (2) of section 16 states that no decree for eviction shall be passed on the ground specified in clause (g) of sub-section 16, if the Court is satisfied that having regard to all the circumstances of the case, including the question whether other reasonable accommodation is available for the landlord or the tenant, the greater hardship would be caused by passing the decree rather than refusing to pas it. When sub-section (2) uses the phraseology "Other Reasonable Accommodation", it is referable to the premises other than those which are in possession of the landlord or tenant on the date of institution of proceedings and it does not relate to the premises, which are not possessed by the landlord on the date of filing of application for eviction.::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 15:38:35 :::
WP 5521/2009 18 Judgment
11. The provision of sub-section (2) of section 16, is incorporated for the benefit of the tenant and therefore, the burden of proving greater hardship, so as to deprive the landlord of his established right to seek eviction, lies on the tenant. In this respect, the decision of the Apex Court reported in 2003(2) SCC 320 (Badrinarayan Chunilal Bhutada V/s Govindram Ramgopal Mundada) rendered on the provisions of Bombay Rents, Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act, 1947 needs to be looked into. The provisions of section 13(1)(g) and Section 13(2) of the said Act, are in pari materia with the provision of Section 16(1)
(g) and Section 16(2) of the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999, which are reproduced earlier. Para 7 of the said judgment, which is relevant, is reproduced below :-
"7. A perusal of the scheme of the Act, so far as the ground of reasonable and bona fide requirement by the landlord for occupation of residential or non- residential premises is concerned, shows that clause (g) of sub-section (1) of Section 13 contemplates a decree for eviction being passed on proof of availability of the ground according to law. In spite of a ground for eviction under Section 13(1)(g) having been made out, the court may deny the relief of eviction if the issue as to comparative hardship is answered against the landlord and in favour of the tenant. Thus, in a way, Section 13(2) acts as a proviso to section 13(1)
(g); the former having an overriding effect on the latter. The burden of proving availability of ground for eviction under Section 13(1)(g) lies on the landlord; the burden of proving greater hardship so as to deprive the landlord of his established right to seek eviction lies on the tenant."
In view of the aforesaid decision of the Apex Court, it is clear that the provision of Section (2) of Section 16 of the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, acts as proviso to Section 16(1)
(g); the former having overriding effect on the latter."
It may be seen that even in this judgment reliance has been placed on a judgment of the Supreme Court in Badrinarayan Vs. Govindram, referred to above.
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21. The learned counsel for the petitioner rightly submitted that the very object of having sub-section (2) in Section 16 is to require the rent Courts to refrain from passing decree of ejectment, if it is found by them that the tenant would suffer greater hardship in spite of the fact that the landlord had established bona fide need.
22. The learned counsel for the respondent submitted that once the learned District Judge concluded that the dispensary premises were not available to the landlord to satisfy his bona fide need for setting up his office, the same premises would not be said to be available to the landlord for the purpose of assessing the comparative hardship. He submitted that statutes have to be interpreted in a manner which would ensure that every provision is effective and does not get nullified. For this purpose, he placed reliance on a number of judgments, including H.Shiva Rao V. Cecilia Pereira, reported at AIR 1987 SC 248, Bhimanagouda Basanagouda Patil v. Mohd. Gudusaheb, reported at (2003) 3 SCC 101, Madanlal v. S. Chandeo Sugar Mills Ltd., reported at AIR 1962 SCC 1543.
23. The learned counsel also relied on a number of judgments on the question of comparative hardship, they are : 1991 Supp (2) SCC 300 (Bhagwan Dass v. Jiley Kaur), (1991) 1 SCC 343 (Bhoolchand v. Kay Pee Cee Investments), (1996) 5 SCC 353 (Prativa Devi v. T.V. Krishnan), (1998) 8 SCC 119 (Sarla ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 15:38:35 ::: WP 5521/2009 20 Judgment Ahuja v. United India Insurance Company Ltd.), (2008) 1 SCC 173 (Julieta Antonieta Tarcato v. Suleman Ismail), a judgment of Delhi High Court reported at ILR (2004) I Delhi 185 (Jitender K. Jain v. J.K. Horticultural Produce Mktg.) and two judgments of this Court reported at 1989(2) All India Rent Control Journal, p.639 (Smt. Shanta A. Vaidya v. B.G. Bhise and ors.) and one reported at 2002(4) Mh.L.J. 473 (Balwant P. Doshi Vs. Shantaben).
24. I have carefully considered the ratione of these judgments. There cannot be any inflexible rule of law as to how comparative hardship is to be assessed. It would depend on facts of each case. Therefore, bearing in mind the observations in the judgments, on which the learned counsel for the respondent relied, the facts of the case at hand would have to be approached.
25. The learned counsel for the respondent would want me to read in sub-section (2) of Section 16 of the Rent Act the words "own accommodation" in the clause, reading as under :
"...including question whether other accommodation is available for the landlord or the tenant..."
First it has to be noted that sub-section (2) of Section 16 enjoins the Court to consider all the circumstances of the case. The question, whether other reasonable accommodation is available for the landlord or tenant is to be only one of the questions to be included in the circumstances which are required to be ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 15:38:35 ::: WP 5521/2009 21 Judgment considered by the Court. It is not the only circumstance which is required to be considered. Secondly, when the statute does not provide that reasonable accommodation which may be available to the landlord or tenant ought to be one to which the landlord or the tenant is entitled as of right, reading something, which is not there in the statute, may not be permissible.
26. The learned counsel for the respondent submitted that in Smt. Shanta A. Vaidya v. B.G. Bhise and ors., reported at 1989 (2) AIRCJ (All India Rent Control Journal) 639 this Court was considering whether the premises of son could be said to be available to a tenant who was widow. The Court held that passing decree of eviction against the widow-tenant would result in throwing her in a helpless condition and in this context observed that the word "available" in sub-section (2) of Section 13 must mean "available to the tenant by right". The learned counsel submitted that different yardstick need not be applied to a landlord and it need not be held that the premises of the parents are available to the landlord once it is held that those premises do not belong to him and have gone to the parents under the Will.
26. As rightly pointed out by the learned counsel for the petitioner, the situation of throwing a widow at the mercy of her son need not be equated to a situation of a son who is joint in mess and residence with his parents claiming that the premises, available to his parents, which are admittedly not in use, are ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 15:38:35 ::: WP 5521/2009 22 Judgment not available to him. The question, here, as rightly pointed out by the learned counsel for the petitioner, is of failure of the respondent to explain as to why the dispensary is not available to him. Whatever may be the defence that the petitioner took, it was open to the respondent to state that the premises owned by his parents are not available to him and that he was not obliged to explain as to what his parents were doing with the premises. It was open for him to state that he was staying with his parents merely at their mercy. But he chose to give an explanation that the premises on the ground floor were occupied by his parents for their office and then falsified his claim by admitting in cross-examination that the premises on ground floor, excluding dispensary, are used by his parents, implying that the dispensary premises are still available. Thus, it is not a case of landlord stating outright that the premises of his parents are not available to him, but of the landlord, who tried to explain the use of the premises by his parents and failed to show that all the rooms available on the ground floor are used by his parents. Therefore, applying yardstick indicated by the Supreme Court in the case of Badrinarayan Vs. Govindram, namely, degree of urgency and intensity of the felt-need, it has to be held that the respondent had failed to dispel the case of the tenant that he would suffer greater hardship. The learned District Judge was, therefore, not right in decreeing the suit or ordering the petitioner's ejectment though the respondent had not only proved his title to the premises, but as also his need, because the petitioner had proved that he would suffer greater hardship if decree of ejectment was passed.
::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 15:38:35 ::: WP 5521/2009 23 Judgment
27. The petition is, therefore, allowed. The impugned judgment and
order is quashed and set aside.
28. Rule is made absolute accordingly. In the circumstances, there shall be no order as to costs.
ig JUDGE
RR.
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