- (1.) The petitioner unsuccessfully sought the eviction of the respondent tenant from the demised premises which are described as Shop no. 99 Defence Colony Market, Jalandhar. The eviction was sought on various grounds but the paramount issue around which the entire controversy was centered and answered pertained to subletting of the premises by respondent no.1 by inducting respondent no.2 to conduct business therefrom without the permission of the landlord. Concededly the tenancy without a rent note was created by the petitioner in favour of respondent no.1 i.e M/s Exserviceman Hire Purchase Finance Pvt. Limited Company. Its Managing Director is Devinder Singh Gill. The petitioner alleges that M/s Nayab Finance Company Private Limited respondent no.2 has been inducted as a tenant to permit its functionality from the same premises without the permission of the landlord and this amounts to sub letting and thus the respondents ought to be evicted from the premises in question. The case of the respondent no.1 in the written statement itself was denial simpliciter but in the evidence it was sought to be projected that respondent no.1 i.e. M/s Ex-serviceman Hire Purchase Finance Pvt. Ltd. and respondent no.2 i.e Nayab Finance Company Pvt. Ltd are being controlled by same family headed by Sh. Devinder Singh Gill and thus there being no parting of possession exclusively in favour of respondent no.2, there would be no sub letting because two corporate entities which are controlled by the same group would not establish subletting in the eyes of law.
(2.) On this premise the learned counsel for respondent no.1 has based his submissions while the learned counsel for the petitioner reasserts his case of subletting against respondent no.1. I have heard learned counsel for the parties. For the purposes of reference, the relevant portion of the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949 where subletting has been defined is extracted herebelow:- Section 13(2) A landlord who seeks to evict his tenant shall apply to the Controller for a direction in that behalf. If the Controller, after giving the tenant a reasonable opportunity of showing cause against the applicant, is satisfied (i) xxxxx (ii) that the tenant has after the commencement of this Act without the written consent of the landlord - (a) transferred his right under the lease or sublet the entire building or rented land or any portion thereof; or (b) used the building or rented land for a purpose other than that for which it was leased, or.
(3.) A bare perusal of the above extracted provision of law shows that i) a tenant should without the written consent of the landlord transfer his rights under the lease ii) sub let the entire building or rented land or any portion thereof or iii) use the building or rented land for a purpose other than the purpose for which it was leased. We are primarily concerned with the first portion of definition regarding transfer of rights over entire building or portion thereof.;