R.N.MITTAL, J. - (1.) THIS judgment will dispose of R.S.A. Nos. 344 and 345 of 1976, and R.S.A. 1518 of 1977, which involve common questions of law. The facts in the judgment are being given from R.S.A. No. 344 of 1976.
(2.) BHIM Sain plaintiff is the owner of the shop in dispute which is alleged to have been constructed in the year 1966. It was leased out to the defendant from April 26, 196 to April 21, 1968 on a monthly rent of Rs. 100/ - plus municipal taxes vide lease deed dated April 26, 1967. It is further averred that the defendant materially diminished the value and utility of the shop in dispute. He consequently after serving a notice on the defendant, filed a suit for his ejectment, pleading that the building was exempt from the provisions of Haryana Urban (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as the Haryana Rent Act). The suit was contested by the defendant on various grounds. The learned trial court decreed the suit of the plaintiff. The defendant went up in appeal before the District Judge, Bhiwani, who affirmed the judgment and decree of the trial Court and dismissed it. He has come up in second appeal to this Court. It is contended by Mr. Sarin, learned counsel for the appellant, that the Haryana Rent Act has been amended by the Haryana Urban (Control of Rent and Eviction) Amendment Act, 1978 (hereinafter referred to as the Amendment Act), by virtue of which inter alia Section 1 of the Haryana Rent Act was amended. The learned counsel further submits that in view of the amendment, of Section 1, the property in dispute is no longer exempt from the purview of the Haryana Rent Act, and consequently the jurisdiction of the Civil Court has ceased to exist for passing a decree for ejectment against the appellant. According to the counsel, if it is so, the decree of ejectment passed by the civil Court is liable to be set aside on this ground alone.
(3.) I have given a thoughtful consideration to the argument of the learned counsel. In order to determine this question it will be relevant to reproduce Sections 1 and 13 of the Haryana Rent Act and Section 2 of the Amendment Act. Sections 1 and 13 of the Haryana Rent Act are as under : "1. Short title and extent. - (1) ........ .......... .......... (2) ........ .......... .......... (3) Nothing in this Act shall apply to - (i) any residential building the construction of which is completed on or after the commencement of this Act for a period of ten years from the date of its completion ; (ii) any non -residential building construction of which is completed after the 31st March, 1962. (iii) any rented land let out on or after 31st March, 1962. 13. Eviction of tenants (1) A tenant in possession of a building or a rented land shall not be evicted therefrom except in accordance with the provisions of this Section. (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 application, is satisfied, - ........ ......... .......... ........ ......... .......... Section 2 of the Amendment Act is as under : "2. Amendment of Section 1 of Haryana Act II of 1973 : "For Sub -section (3) of Section 1 of the Haryana Urban (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), the following Sub -section shall be substituted and shall be deemed to have been substituted, namely : '(3) Nothing in this Act shall apply to any building the construction of which is completed on or after the commencement of this Act for a period of ten years from the date of its completion." From a reading of Section 1(3)(ii), it is evident that the Haryana Rent Act did not apply to a non -residential building construction of which was completed after March 31, 1962. Similarly, it was not applicable to rented land let out on or after March 31, 1962. The position was, however, slightly different regarding residential buildings. Exemption was given to those residential buildings from the operation of the Haryana Rent Act, which had been completed on or after the commencement of the Act, for a period of ten years from the date of completion. After lapse of the said period it became applicable to such buildings as well. Sub -section (3) of Section 1 of the Haryana Rent Act was amended by Section 2 of the Amendment Act, by which no distinction was retained between residential and non -residential buildings and law regarding all buildings was made uniform. According to the new provision, the Haryana Rent Act was made applicable to all the buildings except those completed on or after the commencement of the Act. It was further provided that buildings completed on or after the commencement of the Act would not be governed by the Haryana Rent Act for 10 years from the date of their completion. It was also made applicable to rented lands let out whether before or after its commencement. ;