A.P. Srivastava, J. - (1.) THIS is a Defendants application in revision which arises out of a landlord's suit for fixation of rent under Section 5(4) of Act III of 1947.
(2.) THE Plaintiff claimed to be the Mutwalli of a waqf which was the owner of the two shops in dispute occupied by the Defendant. The agreed rent was Rs. 20 per month. The Plaintiff, however, alleged that the annual reasonable rent of the accommodation was inadequate and that keeping in view the rent paid in respect of similar accommodation in the locality the fair rent of the shops should be Rs. 30 per month, etc therefore prayed that the rent of the shops in dispute be fixed at Rs. 30 per month with effect from 1 -8 -1953. The Defendant contested the suit and pleaded that the rent of the shops in dispute was Rs. 9 per month till 1944. Then it was increased by one rupee and the rent continued as Rs. 10 per month till 1946. In 1947 it was again increased to Rs. 17 per month and subsequently when the landlord insisted it was raised to Rs. 20 per month. He denied that the annual reasonable rent of the accommodation was inadequate or that the rent he was paying was unfair keeping in view the rent paid in respect of similar accommodation in the locality. He also pleaded that the suit was not maintainable as brought.
(3.) THE learned Munsif who tried the suit, held that as the landlord has alleged that the annual reasonable rent of the accommodation was inadequate the suit was maintainable. He further held that there was no evidence on behalf of the Plaintiff to show what the reasonable annual rent of the accommodation was. The Defendant too had not produced the necessary evidence on the point. There was therefore no reason why the reasonable rent of the accommodation should not be held to be Rs. 20 per month. The question of fair rent of the accommodation was thereupon considered and the learned Munsif arrived at the finding that the disputed shops were worth Rs. 25 per month. He therefore decreed the suit and fixed the rent of the shops in dispute at Rs. 25 per month with effect from 1 -8 -1953.;