- (1.) The only question that arises for determination in the present petition is whether the Rent Controller is a court within the meaning of Section 32 of the Air Force Act, 1950, (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act').
(2.) Briefly the facts are that the petitioner, who is owner of House No. 3376, Sector 35-D, Chandigarh, filed an application for ejectment of the respondent from that house before Mr. N. K. Bansal, Rent Controller, Chandigarh. He later obtained a certificate from the proper Air Force authority in terms of Section 32 of the Act and made an application before the Rent Controller for giving priority in the disposal of his case. He therein stated 'that he had been granted leave for the purpose of prosecuting the case with effect from February 25, 1980, to April 19, 1980, and consequently prayed that the hearing of the case be expedited and concluded within the period of his leave as contemplated by the aforesaid section. The application was contested by the respondent who inter alia pleaded that the Rent Controller under the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act (hereinafter referred to as the 'Rent' Act') was a persona designata and not a Court and therefore the provisions of Section 32 of the Act were not applicable to the proceedings before him. The learned Rent Contro1ler came to the conclusion that the Rent Controller was not a Court for the purpose of Section 32 of the Act. He, consequently, dismissed the application. The petitioner has come up in revision against that order to this Court.
(3.) Section 32 of the Act relates to priority in respect of Air Force personnel's litigation. It reads as follows:- "32. Priority in respect of Air Farce personnel's litigation- (1) On the presentation to any Court by or on behalf of any person subject to this Act of a certificate, from the proper air force authority, of leave of absence having been granted to or applied for by him for the purpose of prosecuting or defending any suit or other proceeding in such Court, the Court shall, on the application of such person, arrange, so far as may be possible, for the hearing and final disposal of such suit or other proceeding within the period of the leave so granted or applied for. (2) The certificate from the proper air force authority shall state the first and last day of the leave or intended leave, and set forth a description of the case with respect to which the leave was granted or applied for. (3) to (5) xx xx xx" It is common knowledge that in most of the cases, proceedings in the courts are protracted and it takes much of the time of the litigants before their disputes are settled. It has also been seen that in view of large number of cases pending an Courts, long adjournments have to be given by them. In almost all the cases the defendants want to further prolong the proceedings by legitimate or illegitimate means. The persons serving in the defence services are greatly handicapped in case their cases are decided in routine as they are unable to attend to them in view of the exigencies of the service. In order to reduce the hardship of the Air Force personnel, Section 32 has been incorporated in the Act so that their cases may be decided expeditiously.;