N.L.GANGULY, J. - (1.) THIS writ petition filed by Sarva Daman Shah, a sitting tenant, of premises No. 26/28, M.G. Marg, Allahabad, is directed against an order dated 7.9.93 (Annexure 10 to the writ petition) passed by the Rent Control and Eviction Officer/Additional District Magistrate (Civil Supplies), Allahabad declaring the premises in question as vacant under Section 12 of U.P. Act No. 13 of 1972 and thereafter for proceeding for release/allotment of the said accommodation.
(2.) THE petitioner is sitting tenant in the portion of premises No. 26/28, M.G. Marg, Allahabad which was allotted to him in the year 1956. It is a purely residential accommodation and monthly rent is Rs. 67 per month. The petitioner took another portion in premises No. 5-B, Sardar Patel Marg, Allahabad on rent in the year 1956 on the ground floor. He opened business in the name and style of "Refrigerator and Electrical Appliances". This business accommodation allotted to the petitioner also belong to C.M. Ghosh Trust, Allahabad . The business of the petitioner of Refrigerator and Electrical Appliances continued up to the year 1986. The petitioner had been paying the electricity bill of the shop room 5-A, Sardar Patel Marg, regularly. Few such electricity bills payment receipts have been filed by the petitioner as annexure with the writ petition. Admittedly, the petitioner closed the business of Refrigerator etc. in 1986 and delivered back the possession of the shop room to the opposite party-landlord. The petitioner occupied the disputed portion of the premises No. 26/28, M.G. Marg, Allahabad for his residential purpose purely. The petitioner's wife expired a year before the date of filing of the present writ petition. Since after the death of the petitioner's wife, he lived in the accommodation alone. The petitioner's original family business of Refrigerator etc. is being run at Varanasi by the petitioner's younger brother Sri R. D. Shah. Besides, the petitioner, there are several other partners in the said firm 'Refrigerator and Electrical Appliance'. The petitioner pleaded that he is living in the accommodation in question. The petitioner while shifting to Allahabad from Varanasi in 1956, opened a shop of "Refrigerator and Electrical Appliances" at 5-B, Sardar Patel Marg, Allahabad. He got the accommodation. He had no residence, ration card and gas connection in Varanasi. The ancestral residential house at Varanasi is occupied by the family of petitioner's younger brother Sri R. D. Shah. The petitioner stated that he is not in occupation of any portion of that house at Varanasi.
(3.) SINCE the petitioner is an old man, whose wife has died recently and petitioner has already closed the business at Allahabad and was also paying the nominal rent of Rs. 67 per month, the landlord of the accommodation in question said to have requested the petitioner for enhancing the monthly rent. The landlord claimed and have been pressurizing the petitioner to pay at Rs. 800 per month. The petitioner could not agree to the illegal demand of the landlord. A notice was issued by the landlord-opposite party to the petitioner alleging that the petitioner had sub-let a portion of the premises to one M/s. S.R. International. The petitioner gave a reply to the opposite party's notice, referred to above.;