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The contention of the appellant was put in this way:

The first part of sub-s. (1) of s. 14 puts a complete ban on recovery of possession from all tenants. The proviso to it is only an excepting clause and it lifts that ban in the circumstances mentioned in it. It follows that the proviso. though it does not expressly mention tenants, permits orders for recovery of possession against them alone. The tenant in cl. (b) of the proviso means only the tenant sought to be evicted under the proviso, such tenant having also to be by the express terms of the clause, a tenant who has assigned his tenancy. This follows from the use of the article "the" before the word "tenant" there. Therefore the only person against whom an order for recovery of possession can be made under cl. (b) of the proviso to sub-s. (1) of s. 14 is the tenant who has assigned his tenancy. No such order can, hence, be made against the person to whom the tenancy has been assigned. As the appellant was such a person, no order for eviction could be made against it. I wish to observe at once that if this contention is correct--which 1 do not think it is then the order could never be made against the appellant and the fact that Allen Berry & Co. ceased to be a party to the proceedings made no difference in this regard. The argument of the appellant is really based on the article "the" prefixed to the word "tenant" in cl. (b) of the proviso. It is paid that the article clearly indicates that the only person against whom an order for ejectment can be made under cl. (b) is the tenant who assigns or sub-lets or parts with possession of the tenancy without the landlord's consent. I am unable to accept this argument. The proviso expressly states that an order for ejectment can be made "on one or more of the following grounds" and then sets the grounds out in the different clauses that follow, one of which is cl. (b) with which we are concerned. The clauses, therefore, set out the circumstances in which the operative part of the proviso is set in motion, that is, the circumstances in which an order for recovery of possession may be made. If this is so, as I think it is, the clauses could not have been intended to indicate the person against whom an order for recovery of possession could be made. This purpose was entirely different. 1 am not suggesting that an order for recovery of possession against the assigning tenant cannot be made. All that I say is that the clauses do not intend to indicate the persons against whom an order for recovery of possession can be made and so it cannot be argued that the order cannot be made against any other person.
Now the article "the" appears to me to have been used to show that the tenant assigning must be the tenant of the landlord seeking eviction. So read, the effect of the proviso in cl. (b) is that a landlord can recover possession if his tenant has assigned. sub-let or transferred possession without his consent. This would be the natural reading of the provision and would carry out the intention of the Act. If this is not the correct reading of the provision, the situation would be anomalous. As the word "tenant" includes by virtue of its definition in s. 2(1), a sub-tenant. it would at least be arguable that el. (b) authorised a superior landlord to recover possession when the sub-tenant assigned without his consent. That could not possibly have been intended for the intermediate tenant would then have lost his tenancy for no fault of his. Therefore, 1 think the article "the" was used only to emphasize that the tenant assigning must be the tenant of the landlord seeking eviction. The article "the" does not, in my opinion, lead inevitably to the conclusion that the only person against whom an order for recovery of possession can be made on the ground mentioned in el. (b) is the tenant assigning or sub-letting or parting with possession of his tenancy without the landlord's consent. I think there are good reasons why it must be held that the Act contemplated orders for recovery of possession also against persons other than a tenant who has assigned or sub- let without the landlord's consent. The offending tenant must of course go for, as I have said, he is the immediate tenant of the landlord desiring to recover possession and if he remains he would be entitled to possession and the landlord cannot recover possession. But this does not mean that the order may not also direct the removal from possession of others along with the immediate tenant when there is one. The reason for this view I will presently state. If I am right in what I have said, it will follow that in a case like the present where the tenant becomes extinct without leaving any successor on whom the tenancy devolves, an order can be made against a person who took an assignment of the lease from the tenant before it became extinct.

Bachawat, J. Originally one Amar Sarup owned the land and building at plot No. 5, Block 'M', Connaught Circus, New Delhi. By a lease dated March 1, 1956, Amar Sarup leased the property to Allen Berry & Co. (Calcutta) Ltd., (hereinafter referred to as the tenant) for a period of five years on a monthly rent of Rs. 297/-. Sometime thereafter, Amar Sarup transferred the property to the respondents. In or about May, 1959, the tenant assigned the tenancy rights. and parted with possession of the whole of the premises to the appellant. On October 6, 1959, the respondents filed an application before the Rent Controller, Delhi praying for eviction of the tenant and the appellant. The tenant, a limited company, had gone into voluntary liquidation on September 26, 1959 and it was finally wound up and dissolved on October 29, 1960. On its dissolution, the tenant ceased to exist, and by order of the Rent Controller, its name was struck off from the array of parties in the pending application. By an order dated October 10, 1962, the Rent Controller passed an order of eviction against the appellant. An appeal by the appellant to the Rent Control Tribunal, Delhi was dismissed on January 23, 1963, and a second appeal to the Punjab High Court was dismissed on May 10, 1963. A Letters Patent Appeal from the order dated May 10, 1963 was dismissed on December 11, 1963 on the ground that the appeal was not maintainable, and an appeal to this Court from the last order was dismissed on January 18, 1965. The appellant has now preferred this appeal from the order dated May 10, 1963 by special leave granted by this Court. The respondents-landlords instituted the proceeding for eviction of the tenant and its assignee relying on the provisions of s. 14(1) of the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958 (Act 59 of 1958), the relevant portion of which is as follows: