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Showing contexts for: tenancy devolving in The Vaish Coop. Adarsha Bank Ltd. vs Sudhir Kumar Jain & Ors. on 29 October, 2010Matching Fragments
16. On the facts of this case this judgment also does not lay down a law that the tenancy rights cannot be bequeathed to one of the legal heirs who are likely to succeed the tenancy rights in the case of the death of statutory tenant in a commercial tenancy.
17. In Bhavarlal labhchand Shah's case (supra) the Hon‟ble Supreme Court has made the following observations:-
"5. We are concerned in this case with a building which is let for business and insofar as business premises are concerned it provided in Section 5(ll)(c)(ii) that any member of the tenant's family carrying on business, trade or storage with the tenant in the premises at the time of the death of the tenant as may continue, after his death, to carry on the business trade or storage, as the case may be in the said premises and as may be decided in default of agreement by the Court shall be treated as a tenant. It is significant that both Sub-clauses (i) and (ii) of Clause (c) of Sub-section (11) of Section 5 of the Act which deal with the devolution of the right to tenancy on the death of a tenant in respect of residential premises and premises let for business, trade or storage respectively do not provide that the said right of tenancy can devolve by means of testamentary disposition on a legatee who is not referred to in the respective Sub-clauses. It has, therefore, to be understood that even the extended meaning given to the expression 'tenant by Sub-section (11) of Section 5 of the Act does not authorise the disposition of the right to the tenancy of the premises governed by the Act under a will. Ordinarily it is only an interest that can be inherited that can be bequeathed. But the heritability of a tenancy after the determination of the lease, which is protected by the Act is restricted in the case of residential premises only to the members of the tenant's family mentioned in Sub-Clause (i) of Clause (c) of Section 5(11) of the Act and in the case of premises let for business, trade or usage to members belonging to the family of the tenant carrying on business, trade or storage with the tenant as may continue after his death to carry on the business, trade or storage as the case may be in the said premises and as may be decided in default of the agreement by the Court as provided in SubClause (ii) thereof. When the statute has imposed such a restriction, it is not possible to say that the tenant can bequeath the right to such tenancy in the case of premises let for business, trade or storage in favour of a person not possessing the qualification referred to in Section 5(11)(c)(ii) of the Act. The petitioner admittedly is not a person possessing the said qualification. It is appropriate to refer here to the following observations made by A.N. Sen, J. who has written the main judgment of the case in Gian Devi v. AIR1985SC796 :
In the Delhi Act, the Legislature has thought it fit to make provisions regulating the right to inherit the tenancy rights in respect of residential premises. The relevant provisions are contained in Section 2(1)(iii) of the Act. With regard to the commercial premises, the Legislature in the Act under consideration has thought it fit not to make any such provision. It may be noticed that in some Rent Acts provisions regulating heritability of commercial premises have also been made whereas in some Rent Acts no such provisions either in respect of residential tenancies or commercial tenancies has been made. As in the present Act, there is no provision regulating the rights of the heirs to inherit the tenancy rights of premises which is commercial premises, the tenancy right which is heritable devolves on all the heirs under the ordinary law of succession. The tenancy right of Wasti Ram, therefore, devolves on all the heirs of Wasti Ram on his death.
23. In view of the aforesaid the Apex Court observed:
"6. On the facts of the case it was held that the tenant who continues to remain in possession even after the termination of the contractual tenancy till a decree for eviction against him is passed, continues to have an estate or interest in the tenanted premises and tenancy rights in respect of commercial premises are heritable. There is no provision in the Act regulating the rights of its heirs to inherits the tenancy rights of the tenanted commercial or business premises. The tenancy rights devolved on the heirs under the ordinary law of succession. Accordingly it was held that the tenancy rights of Wasti Ram devolved on all the heirs of Wasti Ram on his death. The ratio with equal force applies to the facts of this case."