Kanhaiya Lal vs Hari Singh on 15 December, 1995
In Chander Kishore v. Smt. Kampa Wati (supra) it was held that what constitutes subletting is a substantial question of law to be determined by the Court and that on the said question second appeal is maintainable before High Court. The question of sub-letting by one to another is a substantial question of law. It was held in this context that onus to prove the sub-letting is heavily on the landlord and a tenant cannot be asked to prove negative and no presumption can be drawn from mere relationship of the parties. It was further held that if a party leads evidence beyond the pleadings, no amount of such evidence can be looked into and it is well settled law that ordinarily nothing which is not pleaded can be proved. Applying the ratio of this decision to this case I am of the opinion that since the pleadings itself are silent on the question of sub-letting, it was not open to the courts below to look into the evidence in absence of pleadings.