Joginder
Pal Vs. Naval Kishore Behal [2002] Insc 273 (10 May 2002)
R.C.
Lahoti & B.N. Agrawal R.C. Lahoti, J.
Leave
granted.
An
eviction petition filed by the landlord-respondent urging the ground for
eviction under Section 13(3)(a)(ii) of the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction
Act, 1949 (hereinafter the Act, for short), was dismissed by the Rent
Controller but allowed by the Appellate Authority. The decree has been
maintained in civil revision preferred by the tenant in the High Court of
Punjab & Haryana. The tenant has filed this appeal by special leave.
The
finding of fact arrived at, and immune from challenge before this Court, is
that the suit premises situated on the ground floor of the building owned by
the landlord-respondent is in occupation of the tenant-appellant for
non-residential purpose. The same is required by the landlord-respondent for
the office of his son who is a chartered accountant residing with the
landlord-respondent. On 31.8.2001 Shri S.P. Upadhyay, the learned counsel for
the appellant placed forceful reliance on a Division Bench decision of the High
Court in Ravinder and successfully persuaded this Court to issue notice limited
to the question whether the requirement of chartered accountant son of the
landlord is relevant to direct eviction of the tenant under Section 13(3)(a)(ii)
abovesaid. The provision reads as under :-
13.
Eviction of tenants. (1) xxx xxx (2) xxx xxx xxxx (3) (a)A landlord may apply
to the Controller for an order directing the tenant to put the landlord in possession
xxx xxx xxxx (ii) in the case of a non-residential building or rented land, if
(a) he requires it for his own use;
Incidentally,
it may be mentioned that the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction (Amendment)
Act, 1956, by Section 2 thereof deleted the words "a non-residential
building or" from the abovesaid provision. However, this amendment was
held ultra vires the (1996) 1 SCC 1, and this Court directed that as a
consequence of the amendment having been declared constitutionally invalid the
original provision of the Act as was operating before the Amendment stands
restored and a landlord under the Act can seek eviction of a tenant from a
non-residential building on the ground that he requires it for his own use.
Presently, the question to be determined is __ what construction should be
placed on the phrase 'his own use'? Should it be assigned a narrow meaning that
it is the individual requirement of the landlord or in other words the
requirement of the landlord and the landlord alone which is germane to the
provision or should we assign a wide and liberal meaning to the expression
treating it a vibrant one so as to respect the context in which it has been
used feeling the pulse of the object behind the provision.
It
will be useful to state the principles relevant for interpretation of a
provision contained in a Rent Control Law like the one with which we are
dealing. The spurt of provincial rent control legislations is a necessary
consequence of population explosion. In Prabhakaran the Court noticed craving
for a home __ a natural human instinct, intensified by post-war migration of
human-beings en block place to place, the partition of the country and
uprooting of the people from their hearth and home as vital factors leading to
acute housing shortage persuading the Legislatures to act and enact Rent
Control Laws. The Court emphasized the need of making the landlord and tenant
laws rational, humane, certain and capable of being quickly implemented.
Benefit of society at large needs an equalistic balance being maintained
between apparently conflicting interests of the owners of the property and the
tenant by inducing and encouraging the landlords to part with available
accommodation for reasonable length of time to accommodate tenants without
unreasonably restricting their right to have the property being restored to
them, more so, when they genuinely require it. Such limited safeguarding of
landlords' interest ensures a boost to construction activity which in turn
results in availability of more houses to accommodate more human souls with
roof on their heads. Sabyasachi Mukharji, J., as His Lordship then was,
articulated the empty truism in such words as have become an oft quoted
quotation "tenants are in all cases not the weaker sections. There are
those who are weak both among the landlords as well as the tenants".
Maharashtra and Anr. (1998) 2 SCC 1 this Court
emphasized the need of social legislations like the Rent Control Act striking a
balance between rival interests so as to be just to law. "The law ought
not to be unjust to one and give a disproportionate benefit or protection to
another section of the society". While the shortage of accommodation makes
it necessary to protect the tenants to save them from exploitation but at the
same time the need to protect tenants is coupled with an obligation to ensure
that the tenants are not conferred with a benefit disproportionately larger
than the one needed. Socially progressive legislation must have a holistic
perception and not a short- sighted parochial approach. Power to legislate
socially progressive legislations is coupled with a responsibility to avoid
arbitrariness and unreasonability. A legislation impregnated with tendency to
give undue preference to one section, at the cost of constraints by placing shackles
on the other section, not only entails miscarriage of justice but may also
result in constitutional invalidity.
Ors.
(1989) 4 SCC 612, this Court dealing with Rent Control Legislation observed
that provisions contained in such legislations are capable of being categorized
into two : those beneficial to the tenants and those beneficial to the
landlord. As to a legislative provision beneficial to landlord, an assertion
that even with regard to such provision an effort should be made to interpret
it in favour of the tenant, is a negation of the very principle of
interpretation of a beneficial legislation.
The
need for reasonable interpretation of Rent Control Legislations was emphasized
by this Court in Mst. Bega Begum and 273. Speaking in the context of reasonable
requirement of landlord as a ground for eviction the Court guarded against any
artificial extension entailing stretching or straining of language so as to
make it impossible or extremely difficult for the landlord to get a decree for
eviction. The Court warned that such a course would defeat the very purpose of
the Act which affords the facility of eviction of the tenant Lajwanti (1980) 1
SCC 290 this Court has observed, while the rent control legislation has given a
number of facilities to the tenants it should not be construed so as to destroy
the limited relief which it seeks to give to the landlord also. For instance
one of the grounds for eviction which is contained in almost all the Rent
Control Acts in the country is the question of landlord's bona fide personal
necessity. The concept of bona fide necessity should be meaningfully construed
so as to make the relief granted to the landlord real and practical. Recently
222, the Court has held that the concept of bona fide need or genuine requirement
needs a practical approach instructed by realities of life.
An
approach either too liberal or too conservative or pedantic must be guarded
against.
The
Rent Control Legislations are heavily loaded in favour of the tenants treating
them as weaker sections of the society requiring legislative protection against
exploitation and unscrupulous devices of greedy landlords. The Legislative
intent has to be respected by the Courts while interpreting the laws. But it is
being uncharitable to Legislatures if they are attributed with an intention
that they lean only in favour of the tenants and while being fair to the
tenants go to the extent of being unfair to the landlords. The Legislature is
fair to the tenants and to the landlords both. 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 take care of the
interest of 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 landlord too are week and feeble and feel
humble.
Both
the learned counsel for the parties submitted that so far as the expression
'his own use" as occurring in Section 13(3)(a)(ii)(a) is concerned no
occasion has hitherto before arisen enabling this Court making an authoritative
interpretation and pronouncement. The nearest available decision is Mst. Bega
Begum and Ors. (supra) which has been referred to by the High Court in its
impugned judgment and was relied on by Shri Sudhir Chandra, the learned senior
counsel for the landlord-respondent. Section 11(1)(h) of J & K Houses and
Shops Rent Control Act, 1966 provides for the tenant being evicted if the
landlord requires the house for 'his own occupation'. The Court held that the
provision is meant for the benefit of the landlord and therefore it must be so
construed as to advance the object of the Act. The word "own
occupation" contemplates the actual possession of the landlord whether for
his own residence or for his business. Furthermore, the provision is wide
enough to include the necessity of not only the landlord but also of the
persons who are living with him as members of the same family. The words
"own occupation" cannot be so narrowly interpreted as to indicate
actual physical possession of the landlord personally and nothing more than
that.
We may
refer to a few decided cases of different High Courts wherein pari materia
provisions contained in different legislations were considered by different
High Courts.
Pradesh
435, Section 10(3)(a)(iii) of the Andhra Pradesh Buildings (Lease, Rent and
Eviction) Control Act, 1960 came up for consideration of the Division Bench.
The landlord could seek a direction for recovery of possession of the building
"for the purpose of a business which he is carrying on" or which
"the landlord bona fide proposes to commence". The Division Bench
made a review of the decisions delivered by different High Courts under local
Rent Control Legislations and held that these expressions are not necessarily
confined to the physical requirement of the landlord himself. Such expression
ought to be construed liberally and not in a narrow way. They are susceptible
to a wide meaning and include within the meaning of "own" not only
the members of the landlord's family but also those persons who are socially or
economically dependent on him and whose responsibilities he has accepted. This
is based on the necessity of realizing that the family in India, whether joint or separate, is the
social unit of Indian civilization and it is of greater public importance to
keep it together. The Division Bench concluded by holding that the expression
"landlord" or "his" must include all normal emanations of
the landlord so as to include his wife and children though on a strict construction
of the expression they may not be available to be included within
"landlord himself". The requirement of a major son and a coparcener
in a joint Hindu family intending to start a business was deemed to be the
requirement of landlord himself. This decision was cited with approval in Mst. Bega
Begum and Ors.'s case (supra).
Sub-Clause
(vi) of Clause 13 of C.P. and Berar Letting of Houses and Rent Control Order,
1949 provides one ground for eviction as 'that the landlord needs the house or
a portion thereof for K.M. Kothari and Ors. 1951 N.L.J. 250, the Division Bench
quoted from Smith v. Penny - (1946) 2 All England Reports 672 __"the
family is the unit of our civilization. To keep the family together is of high
public importance" and held that the word "his" must be
interpreted so as to include the family and not in a narrow way and in the
context of business the words __ "his own" of the landlord __ should
be defined as meaning something in which the landlord or his family have
pecuniary interest. The need of the landlord's wife who was a medical
practitioner wanting to run a maternity home was held covered by clause
13(3)(vi) abovesaid. On the same principle, in 1953 Nagpur 144, the need of a widowed daughter
and her children was held to be 'his own' need of the landlord. The Division
Bench observed that no doubt after marriage the daughter passes out of the
father's family and goes into that of the husband but marriage does not sever
the blood relationship which exists between a father and his daughter. The
existence of this relationship does give rise to certain moral obligations and
in pursuance thereof where a father affords support to his daughter and her
children, their needs become his needs. It was held that the phraseology
employed by the Legislature could not restrict a landlord's needs to his
personal needs and would include not only the members of the landlord's family
but also of all those persons who are dependent on him and whose
responsibilities he has adopted.
Section
21 of U.P. Urban Buildings (Regulation of Letting, Rent and Eviction) Act, 1972
provides for the accommodation being released if bona fide required by the
landlord for occupation by himself or members of his family or for any person
for whose benefit Moradabad and Anr. AIR 1980 Allahabad 148, the need was for
setting up daughter's son in business. The daughter's son was not a member of
the family nor the accommodation could be said to be held for his benefit. The
Court held that the provisions of the Act cannot be read so as to put an end to
the ties of affection, friendship, kinship or sheer necessity. In appropriate
circumstances the landlord may be so much concerned with and interested in the
requirement of or for another person, who is not a member of his family as
defined in Section 3(g), that the requirement may be properly regarded as the
landlord's own requirement depending on the extent of landlord's identification
with the person concerned to be determined on the evidence and circumstances of
the particular case.
Section
13(1)(g) of Bombay Rents, Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act, 1947
entitles a landlord to recover possession of any premises on the Court being
satisfied that "the premises are reasonably and bona fide required by the
landlord for occupation by himself or by any person for whose benefit the
premises are held". In Shah AIR 1981 Bom 1, the High Court construed the
import of words "by himself" and held that "for occupation by
himself" do not restrict the proposed occupation to the occupation of
landlord alone but may include the occupation by member of his family. The
requirement of the landlord for occupation by the dependent of the landlord may
be the requirement by the landlord. In a given case the landlord may be
dependent upon a person and it may be the necessity of the landlord that such
other person should occupy the premises. If emotionally the landlord feels that
a relation of his such as daughter or son-in-law should stay with him, it can
be regarded as the requirement by the landlord of the premises 'for occupation
by himself'. This is as regards residential premises. In case of
non-residential premises if the landlord's interests are shown to be linked
with the occupation of those premises by some one for whom he is seeking the
possession of the suit premises it can be said that the requirement of the
landlord for occupation by himself is established. The High Court also held
that if there is a moral or legal obligation of the landlord to provide
accommodation to a particular person then the requirement by the landlord for
occupation of that person may squarely fall under Section 13(1)(g). Having
taken into consideration the several precedents from different High Courts the
learned Judge held that the determinative test underlying the several
propositions propounded by the High Courts is the basic fact that the
requirement is by the landlord and that there must be a nexus between the
interests of the landlord and the one who would physically occupy the premises
so as to tantamount to occupation of the premises "by himself", i.e.,
the landlord. In AIR 1946 Bombay 212, Section 11 of Bombay Rent Restriction
Act, 1939 was dealt with by the Division Bench and the words "his own
occupation" were held to include occupation by all persons who are
dependent on the landlord.
A Division
Bench of Patna High Court has opined in Anr. 1955 BLJR 654, that the expression
"his own occupation" as occurring in sub-Section (3)(a) of Section 11
of the Bihar Buildings (Lease, Rent and Eviction) Control act, 1947 does not
mean only the occupation of the landlord himself but includes the occupation of
other persons who live with the landlord and are economically dependent on him.
The requirement of nephew, who's maintenance was responsibility of the landlord
was held to be covered by the expression 'his own occupation' of the landlord.
P.B. Mukharji,
J. (as His Lordship then was) observed that the expression "for his own
occupation" in Section 11(1)(f) of W.B.
Premises
Rent Control (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1948 does not necessarily mean of the
particular individual alone but must be widely interpreted to include the
family and dependents. The context of social order, the habits and ideas of
living and the religious and socio- religious customs of the community to which
the individual concerned belongs are relevant determining factors.
Section
21 (1)(h) of Mysore Rent Control Act, 1961 contemplates an order of eviction
being passed only if the premises are reasonably and bona fide required by the
landlord for occupation 107, the landlady required the tenancy premises,
non-residential in nature, for her husband, a retired doctor, and her daughter,
who had resigned her job as a house surgeon, both of them wanting to run a
nursing home and a clinic in the tenancy premises. The husband and the daughter
were living together with the landlady. The Mysore High Court held that the
words "occupation by himself" should be understood to mean not merely
the landlord or the landlady but also the husband or the wife or the children
or the other dependents. In the predecessor provision the requirement of
members of the landlord's family was also included but the same was deleted. In
the opinion of Mysore High Court that amendment did not make any difference.
Similar
provision is contained in Section 21(1)(h) of Karnataka Aziz Khan, 1983 (1) RCJ
516, the Division Bench consisting of M.N. Venkatachaliah and M. Rama Jois, JJ.
(as their Lordships were then) cited with approval the decision of Court of
Appeal of England in Riches v. Wilson, 1963 (2) All England Reports 336, in
which Willmer, L.J. interpreting the expression 'himself' used in paragraph (h)
of Schedule-I to the English Rent and Mortgage Interest restrictions (Amendment
Act 1933) had held, "quite plainly the expression "himself" must
include all the normal 'emanations' of himself", and concluded to say,
__"So, the test by the application of which I should decide this case is
whether it could be said that when the sister lives in the premises, the
landlord himself lives there through his sister. If he does the sisters
occupation is the occupation of the landlord 'by himself' and the household
would then be a common household. If that be the true position, the landlord
should get an order for possession." The Division Bench followed the
Bombay and Mysore view (which we have already referred to) and held that the
submission that 'himself' refers to landlord in person or his dependent who
resides with him and not separated is too technical and artificial a
construction which if accepted would rob the provision of its real intention
and purpose and it does not merit acceptance. The Court proceeded to note a
variety of circumstances by reference to which the actual occupation of the
premises by another has to be regarded constructively as the occupation by the
'emanation' of the landlord himself. "It is not possible to state
exhaustively all the circumstances in which the physical occupation of a person
other than the landlord would have to be registered as occupation by the
landlord himself. A few illustrations, however, would bring home the point. For
instance, the occupation of the premises by a person who is economically
dependent on the landlord, the occupation of the premises by a major son or
daughter including a married daughter whose residence in the premises is
genuinely desired by the landlord, the occupation of the premises out of
necessity by those who are kith and kin of the landlord for the purpose of the
Dr. (sick) education or medical treatment as the case may be as genuinely
desired by the landlord, would have to be regarded as occupation by the
landlord himself."
The
Division Bench however sounded a note of caution and clarified __ "the
Court should be circumspect in finding out as to whether having regard to the
facts and circumstances of the case and the evidence adduced such occupation
could be regarded as occupation by the landlord himself or was only a ruse to
get an order of eviction." The Court further observed that all the
relevant factors and attendant circumstances shall have to be taken into
consideration besides (i) the degree of relationship or dependence, (ii) the
circumstances under which the landlord's claim for the premises arises and put
forward; (iii) the intrinsic tenability of the claim having regard to the
realities of life and the social mores and the like and shall have all to be
put into the scales and go into the judicial verdict.
Section
10(3)(c) of Tamil Nadu Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1960 provides
for tenant placing the landlord in possession "if he requires additional
accommodation for residential purpose or for purposes of a business which he is
carrying on".
Consistent
view of Madras High Court as noted in R.V. Dharmalinga phraseology employed
needs a wider interpretation and includes therein the requirement of either
himself or any other opportunity of his or her family as such an approach
stands to reason, justice, equity and good conscience. The requirement of the
landlord's first wife's son working independently so as to set up him and his
family was held covered by the provision.
Two
decisions by Delhi High Court though dealing with requirement for residential
purpose may yet be noted for their utility.
Section
14(1)(e) of Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958 contemplates the landlord requiring
the suit premises bona fide 'for himself' as a Devi 1977 (2) RCJ 529, the
landlady required the premises for the family of her married daughter to come
and live with her as she was unable to look after herself and thus the
requirement which she pleaded was for herself covered within the meaning of the
word "himself". It was held that the relationship was immaterial so
long as the requirement was a genuine one and was meant to serve the need of
the landlady.
that
assigning a restricted meaning to the word 'himself' would lead to anomalous
and unreasonable results. The requirement of the sons of the landlady who were
married and earning for themselves was held to be included within the
requirement of 'himself' for the landlady.
The
preceding reference to several decisions rendered by different High Courts
under different State Legislations is not intended by any means to be an
exhaustive survey of available case law. We have set out only by way of
illustrations the decision on which we could lay our hands in the plethora of
precedents to show the meaning assigned to the words "his own"
generally by the High Courts in the country dealing with different
fact-situations. The judicial opinion leans entirely in favour of assigning the
expression 'his own' requirement of the landlord a liberal, wide and useful
even an extended meaning as that would advance the purpose of enacting the
provision, discarding a narrow interpretation.
We are
of the opinion that the expression 'for his own use' as occurring in Section
13(3)(a)(iii) of the Act cannot be narrowly construed. The expression must be
assigned a wider, liberal and practical meaning. The requirement is not the
requirement of the landlord alone in the sense that the landlord must for himself
require the accommodation and to fulfill the requirement he must himself
physically occupy the premises. The requirement of a member of the family or of
a person on whom the landlord is dependent or who is dependent on the landlord
can be considered to be the requirement of the landlord for his own use. In the
several decided cases referred to hereinabove we have found the pari materia
provisions being interpreted so as to include the requirement of the wife,
husband, sister, children including son, daughter, a widowed daughter and her
son, nephew, coparceners, members of family and dependents and kith and kin in
the requirement of landlord as "his" or "his own"
requirement and user. Keeping in view the social or socio-religious milieu and
practices prevalent in a particular section of society or a particular region,
to which the landlord belongs, it may be obligation of the landlord to settle a
person closely connected with him to make him economically independent so as to
support himself and/or the landlord. To discharge such obligation the landlord may
require the tenancy premises and such requirement would be the requirement of
the landlord. If the requirement is of actual user of the premises by a person
other than the landlord himself the Court shall with circumspection inquire :
(i) whether
the requirement of such person can be considered to be the requirement of the
landlord, and
(ii) whether
there is a close inter-relation or identity nexus between such person and the
landlord so as to satisfy the requirement of the first query.
Applying
the abovesaid tests to the facts of the present case it is clear that the
tenancy premises are required for the office of the landlord's son who is a
chartered accountant. It is the moral obligation of the landlord to settle his
son well in his life and to contribute his best to see him economically
independent. The landlord is not going to let out the premises to his son and
though the son would run his office in the premises the possession would
continue with the landlord and in a sense the actual occupation by the son
would be the occupation by the landlord himself. It is the landlord who
requires the premises for his son and in substance the user would be by
landlord for his son's office. The case squarely falls within the scope of
Section 13(3)(a)(ii) of the Act.
Ravinder
Kumar Pujara's case (supra) relied on by the learned counsel for the
tenant-appellant which holds that setting up of independent business of the son
of the landlord is not covered by Section 13(3)(a)(ii) of the Act takes too
narrow a view of the provision; it does not lay down the correct law and is
overruled.
Learned
counsel for the appellant also invited our attention to 13(3)(a)(i) of this
very Act, which is a provision dealing with requirement of a residential
building for own occupation by the landlord, came up for the consideration of
this Court. The Court was not called up to interpret the expression 'his own
occupation'. There were inadequacies of pleadings and total absence of proof as
to non- availability of other residential building and as to non-vacating of
any building without sufficient cause by the landlord after the commencement of
the Act. As the landlord failed to allege and prove the latter two out of the
three requirements of the provision this Court held the landlord not entitled
to any relief and in that context observed that the Statute beneficially
designed to protect tenants from unreasonable evictions has taken care to put
restrictions which must be rigorously constructed to fulfil the purpose of the
Statute. The case has no applicability and relevance for resolving the issue
arising for our consideration in the present case and observation made by the
Court cannot be read divorced from the context.
The
learned counsel for the appellant submitted that the language of the provision
is plain and simple, not doubtful, and hence the expression 'his own use'
should be interpreted literally according to well settled canon of
interpretation. It is true that ordinary rule of construction is to assign the
word a meaning which it ordinarily carries. But the subject of legislation and
the context in which a word or expression is employed may require a departure
from the rule of literal construction. The following passage from Statutory
Interpretation by Justice G.P. Singh (Eighth Edition, 2001, at pp.81- 82) is an
appropriate guide to the case at hand :
""No
word", says Professor H.A. Smith "has an absolute meaning, for no
words can be defined in vacuo, or without reference to some context".
According
to Sutherland there is a "basic fallacy" in saying "that words
have meaning in and of themselves", and "reference to the abstract
meaning of words", states Craies, "if there be any such thing, is of
little value in interpreting statutes". . . . . . . . .in determining the
meaning of any word or phrase in a statute the first question to be asked is
"what is the natural or ordinary meaning of that word or phrase in its
context in the statute? It is only when that meaning leads to some result which
cannot reasonably be supposed to have been the intention of the Legislature,
that it is proper to look for some other possible meaning of the word or
phrase". The context, as already seen, in the construction of statutes,
means the statute as a whole, the previous state of the law, other statutes in para
materia the general scope of the statute and the mischief that was intended to
remedy." Words cannot be construed in vacuo. In Bidie v. General Accident,
Fire and Life Assurance Corporation __ (1948) 2 All ER 995, 998, Lord Greene
observed "The first thing one has to do, I venture to think, in construing
words in a Section of an Act of Parliament is not to take those words in vacuo
so to speak, and attribute to them what is sometimes called their natural or
ordinary meaning. Few words in the English language have a natural or ordinary
meaning in the sense that they must be so read that their meaning is entirely
independent of their context. The method of construing statutes that I prefer
is not to take particular words and attribute to them a sort of prima facie
meaning which you may have to displace or modify. It is to read the statute as
a whole and ask oneself the question : 'In this state, in this context,
relating to this subject- matter, what is the true meaning of that word?'"
In
Towne v. Eisner, (1917) 245 US 418m 425, Homes, J. observed "A word is not
a crystal, transparent and unchanged; it is the skin of living thought and may
vary greatly in colour and content according to the circumstances and the time
in which is used." Both these decisions were cited with Kerala (1973) 4
SCC 225, 316. (1977) 4 SCC 193, Bhagwati, J. held that the words used in
Statute cannot be read in isolation; their colour and content are derived from
their context and, therefore, every word in a statute must be examined in its
context. His Lordship explained what he meant by the word 'context' and
proceeded to say "I mean it in its widest sense as including not only
other enacting provisions of the same statute, but its preamble, the existing
state of the law, other statutes in pari materia and the mischief which the
statute intended to remedy". His Lordship called upon the courts faced
with the task of assigning meaning to a word to remember that a statute always
has some purpose or object to accomplish whose sympathetic and imaginative
discovery is the surest guide to its meaning. The literal construction should
not obsess the court because it has only prima facie preference. Krishna Iyer,
J. in his separate opinion emphasized the need of keeping in view "the
roots of the past, the foliage of the present and the seeds of the future"
while understanding and interpreting a statute and held that judicial
interpretation should not be imprisoned in verbalism and words lose Pradesh
(1977) 1 SCC 155, this Court held that the context would quite often provide
the key to the meaning of the word and the sense it should carry. Its setting
would give colour to it and provide a cue to the intention of the Legislature
in using it.
Maxwell
on The Interpretation of Statutes (Twelfth Edition) states, while dealing with
beneficial construction of statute, the Judges "faced with a choice
between a wide meaning which carries out what appears to have been the object
of the legislature more fully, and a narrow meaning which carries it out less fully
or not at all, they will often choose the former" (at page 92). The rule
of construction most agreeable to justice and reason is to presume against
intending what is inconvenient or unreasonable. "In determining either the
general object of the Legislature, or the meaning of its language in any
particular passage, it is obvious that the intention which appears to be most
in accord with convenience, reason, justice and legal principles should, in all
cases of doubtful significance, be presumed to be the true one" (at page
199).
In
providing key to the meaning of any word or expression the context in which it
is set has significance. Colour and content emanating from context may permit
sense being preferred to mere meaning depending on what is sought to be
achieved and what is sought to be prevented by the legislative scheme
surrounding the expression. Requirement of landlord for his own use, is an
expression capable of attributing an intention to the legislature that what was
intended to be fulfilled is such requirement as would persuade the landlord to
have the premises vacated by the tenant, to forego the rental income, and to
put the premises to such use as the landlord would deem to be his own use and
in the given facts and circumstances of a case the Court too would hold it to
be so in contradistinction with a mere ruse to evict the tenant. The
legislature intending to protect the tenant also intends to lift the protection
when it is the requirement of landlord to put the accommodation to such use as
he intends, away from leasing it out.
We
have already noticed that the purpose of the Act is to restrict increase of
rent and the eviction of tenants in urban areas. Still the Legislature has
taken care to provide grounds for eviction, one of them being the requirement
of the landlord. We have to strike a balance between the need of protecting the
tenants from unjustified evictions and the need for eviction when ground for
eviction is one such as the requirement of the landlord. If we do not
meaningfully construe the concept of requirement the provision may suffer from
the risk of being branded as unreasonable, arbitrary or as placing uncalled for
and unreasonable restrictions on the right of the owner to hold and use his
property. We cannot place a construction on the expression 'for his own use' in
such a way as to deny the landlord a right to evict his tenant when he needs
the accommodation for his own son to settle himself well in his life. We have
to give colour and content to the expression and provide the skin of a living
thought to the skeleton of the words which the Legislature has not itself
chosen to define. The Indian society, its customs and requirements and the
context where the provision is set in the legislation are the guides leading to
acceptance of the meaning which we have chosen to assign to the words 'for his
own use' in Section 13(3)(a)(ii) of the Act.
Our
conclusions are crystalised as under:
(i) the
words 'for his own use' as occurring in Section 13(3)(a)(ii) of the East Punjab
Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949 must receive a wide, liberal and useful
meaning rather than a strict or narrow construction.
(ii)
The expression __ landlord requires for 'his own use', is not confined in its
meaning to actual physical user by the landlord personally. The requirement not
only of the landlord himself but also of the normal 'emanations' of the
landlord is included therein. All the cases and circumstances in which actual
physical occupation or user by someone else, would amount to occupation or user
by the landlord himself, cannot be exhaustively enumerated. It will depend on a
variety of factors such as inter-relationship and inter-dependence __ economic
or otherwise, between the landlord and such person in the background of social,
socio-religious and local customs and obligations of the society or region to
which they belong.
(iii)
The tests to be applied are :
(i) whether
the requirement pleaded and proved may properly be regarded as the landlord's
own requirement? and,
(ii)
Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of a given case actual occupation
and user by a person other than the landlord would be deemed by the landlord as
'his own' occupation or user?
The
answer would, in its turn, depend on
(i) the
nature and degree of relationship and/or dependence between the landlord
pleading the requirement as 'his own' and the person who would actually use the
premises;
(ii) the
circumstances in which the claim arises and is put forward, and
(iii) the
intrinsic tenability of the claim. The Court on being satisfied of the
reasonability and genuineness of claim, as distinguished from a mere ruse to
get rid of the tenant, will uphold the landlord's claim.
(iv)
While casting its judicial verdict, the Court shall adopt a practical and
meaningful approach guided by the realities of life.
(v) In
the present case, the requirement of landlord of the suit premises for user as
office of his chartered accountant son is the requirement of landlord 'for his
own use' within the meaning of Section 13(3)(a)(ii).
The
appeal is dismissed. The tenant is allowed four months time to vacate the
premises subject to his clearing all the arrears and filing the usual
undertaking in the Executing Court to deliver vacant and peaceful possession
over the suit premises to the landlord- respondent on expiry of the time
allowed. Compliance in four weeks.
.....................J
( R.C.
LAHOTI ) ..................J.
( B.N.
AGRAWAL ) May 10, 2002.
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