JUDGEMENT
Hidayatullah, J. -
(1.)This is a tenants' appeal, with the special leave of this Court, against an order of Naik, J., of the High Court of Bombay in Civil Revision Application No. 320 of 1959, by which he disallowed certain pleas raised by the appellants. The respondent is the landlord.
(2.)On September 11, 1942, the appellants had executed a rent note, under which they were in occupation of the premises in dispute. The period of the tenancy was 15 years, and it expired by efflux of time on March 14, 1957. The landlord thereupon filed a suit on April 25, 1957, for possession of the premises, in the court of the Joint Civil Judge (Junior Division), Erandol. Meanwhile, under S. 6 of the Bombay 'Rents. Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act, 1947, (to be called the Act, in this judgment), a notification was issued, applying Part II of the Act to the area where the property is situated. The appellants claimed protection of S. 12 in Part II of the Act, which deprived the landlord of the right of possession under certain circumstances. The Civil Judge framed three preliminary Issues, which were as follows:
"1. Whether this Court has jurisdiction to try the suit
2. Whether the plaintiff's suit for possession of the suit property is maintainable in view of the Notification issued by the Government of Bombay on 16th August, 1958, applying Part II of the Bombay Rents, Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act If not, what order should be passed
3. What order -
(3.)These Issues were decided against the appellants. They filed a revision petition before the High Court of Bombay, which was dismissed by the order under appeal. Naik, J., who heard the revision, followed a previous Full Bench ruling of the Bombay High Court reported in Nilkanth Ramchandra vs. Rasiklal, 51 Bom LR 280. In that case, Chagla C. J. (Gajendragadkar and Tendolkar, JJ., concurring) had held that S. 12 of the Act was prospective and did not apply to pending cases. Reliance was also placed by Naik, J.. on the decision of this Court in Chandrasingh Manibhai vs. Surjit Lal, (1951) SCR 221 where the opinion of the Full Bench of the Bombay High Court was approved.