- (1.) The tenant Rais Ahmad has preferred this petition aggrieved by the judgement and order of release of the shop occupied by him by the courts below. The release application was filed by Smt. Kusum Sharma, the respondent landlord under Section 21(1)(a) of the U.P. Act No.13 of 1972 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) alleging that the shop in dispute is required by her genuinely for establishing her daughter-in-law Smt. Jyoti Sharma, the wife of younger son Pankaj Sharma to run a P.C.O. to augment the income of the family.
(2.) The release application P.A. Case No.35 of 2012 was allowed by the judgement and order dated 12.03.2014 and the appeal preferred by the tenant was dismissed on 21.12.2015. I have heard Sri Ramendra Asthana, learned counsel for the petitioner and Sri Salil Kumar Rai, learned counsel for the respondent. Both of them agreed for the final disposal of the petition. Sri Asthana, has argued that the release application under Section 21(1) of the Act can be filed by the landlord for occupation by himself or any member of his family. The daughter-in-law of the landlady is not a member of her family. Therefore, she is not entitle to the release of the shop for the need of her daughter-in-law. Sri Salil Kumar Rai, learned counsel for the respondent on the other hand contends that no such plea was raised by the petitioner in the courts below. The release application has been filed by the landlady for establishing her daughter-in-law, who is part and parcel of her family being the wife of the son of the landlady. Section 21(1)(a) of the Act provides that landlord may apply to the prescribed authority for the release of the tenanted accommodation, if it is bonafidely required by him for occupation by himself or any member of his family. Thus, the need for the building has to be that of landlord or any member of his family. The word 'landlord' has been defined in Section 3(j) of the Act to mean a person to whom the rent is or would be payable. In view of the aforesaid definition of the landlord, even a person authorised to collect rent on behalf of the owner would be a landlord but it is settled that for the purposes of Section 21 of the Act, the mere collector of rent cannot be recognised as the landlord and that a person having some better rights than mere collecting of rent in the shape of ownership would be the landlord.
(3.) The word 'family' has been defined in Section 3(g) of the Act to mean a spouse, male lineal descendants such parents, grand-parents and any unmarried or widowed or divorced or judicially separated daughter or daughter of a male lineal descendant, as may have been normally residing with him or her and includes, in relation to a landlord any female having a legal right of resident in the building. In short, the family of the landlord comprises of himself his spouse male lineal descendants, grand-parents and unmarried, widowed, divorced, judicially separated daughter or daughter of the male lineal descendants normally residing with him including any other family having a right of resident in the building. The above definition of the family does not cover the wife of the male lineal descendant.;