S. N. BHARGAVA, J. - (1.) THIS is plaintiff's second appeal against the judgment and decree passed by Additional Civil Judge, Ajmer, reversing the decree and judgment passed by Munsif and Judicial Magistrate, Nasirabad, dismissing the suit of the plaintiffs.
(2.) THE plaintiffs owned a shop which was given on rent to defendant Ramlal Verma (since deceased ). THE tenancy was terminated by a notice dated December 14, 1970, during the life time of Ram Lal Verma. Ram Lal Verma expired on September 6, 1972, and thereafter the plaintiffs filed the present suit for arrears of rent and eviction against the legal representatives of Ram Lal Verma, his widow and three sons, on the group of default as no rent was paid from December 1,1969. The defendants filed a joint written statement and contested the suit, admitting that the deceased Ram Lal Verma had taken the shop on rent and that they have deposited the rent and that they were not defaulters. The learned trial court, after recording the evidence decreed the suit both for eviction and for arrears of rent, rejecting the contention to the defendants that amendment in the Rajasthan Premises (Control of Rent & Eviction) Act, 1950, hereinafter referred to as the 'act of 1950' as amended by Ordinance No. 26 of 1975, was applicable in the Cantonmant Area of Nasirabad. On appeal, the learned Additional Civil Judge allowed the appeal and dismissed the suit holding that amendment in the Act was applicable to the Nasirabad Cantonment Area as the amendment was retrospective. It is against this judgment that the present appeal has been filed. Learned counsel for the appellants relied on the following judgments of this court:- (i) Devi Lal Rathi Vs. Premchand (1) which was relied by this court in Kalicharan Vs. Smt. Parvati Bai (2) and both the judgments have again been relied in the latest judgment of this court in Nand Lal Vs. Prahlad Das (3) and according to him, this point stood concluded.
(3.) ON the other hand, learned counsel for the respondents has submitted that the Cantonments (Extension of Rent Control Laws) Act 1957 (Act No. 46 of 1957), was amended and the words "on the date of the notification" from sub-sec. (1) of Sec. 3 have been deleted and shall be deemed always to have been omitted. Therefore, Section 3 after the amendment of 1972 implies that no fresh notification was necessary and since the amendment in the Rajasthan Act was retrospective, the amendment in the Rajasthan Act was applicable in the Cantonment Area of Nasirabad also and no fresh notification was necessary. I have carefully gone through the judgments of this court relied on by the learned counsel for the appellants and I am in complete agreement with the observations made therein. Learned Single Judge while deciding Devilal's case (Supra), after discussing the case law has come to a definite finding that a law pertaining to the control of rent in Cantonment Area falls within the ambit of Entry 3 of List 1 of the VII Schedule of the Constitution of India, and falls exclusively within the competence of the Union Parliament, though such legislation in rest of the territory of that State would be within the competence of the State Legislature. In other words, legislature with regard to the control of rents and ejectment in the Cantonment Area is the exclusive field of the Union and the State Legislature cannot legislate with regard to any such matter even indirectly and that it is why, it became necessary to enact the Cantonments (Extension of Rent Control Laws), Act, 1957, S. 3 of the Act of 1957 provided that the Central Government, may, by a notification in the official gazette extend to any cantonment with such restrictions and modifications as it thinks fit, any enactment relating to the control of rent and regulation of house accommodation which is in force on the date of the notification in the State in which the Cantonment is situated. It was under this Act of 1957 that a notification No. S. R. O 17/e dated Dec, 4, 1968 published in Gazette of India, Extraordinary part II section (4), dated 5. 12. 68 at page 37, was issued under section 3 by the Central Government, extending to the cantonment area of Nasirabad the provisions of Rajasthan (Premises Control of Rent and Eviction) Act, 1950, as in force, on the date of this notification in the State of Rajasthan with some modifications. It was made applicable to the cantonment area of Nasirabad. There were some further amendments in the Rajasthan Act, and a dispute arose as to whether or not those amendments made in the Rajasthan Act were applicable to the cantonment area of Nasirabad and therefore, the Central Government in its wisdom, so as to apply other amendments made in the Rajasthan Act after 1968, to the cantonment area of Nasirabad, issued another notification No. SRO. 367 dated September 23, 1971, published in Gazette of India dated October 9, 1971 part 11, Section IV page 896. in supersession of the notification of 1968 mentioned above. Thereafter, the Act of 1957 came to be amended vide Cantonments (Extension of Rent Control Laws) Amendment Act, 1972 whereby the words "on the date of the notification" were omitted and it was further provided that they shall be deemed to have always been omitted, subsection (1) of Section 3 of the Act of 1957, as amended by the Amending Act of 1972, reads as under:- "3 - Power to extend to cantonments laws relating to control of rents and regulation of house accommodation. (1) The Central Government, may be notification in the official Gazette extend to any cantonment with such restrictions and modifications as it thinks fit, any enactment relating to the control of rent and regulation of house accommodation which is in force in the State in which the cantonment is situated Provided that nothing contained in any enactment so extended shall apply to - (a) any premises within the cantonment belonging to the Government, (d) any tenancy or other like relationship created by a grant from the Government in respect of premises within the cantonment taken on lease or requisitioned by the Government, or (c) any house within the cantonment which is or may be, appropriated by the Central Government on lease under the Cantonments (House Accommodation) Act, 1923. " With a view to appreciate the argument of learned counsel for the respondents, it will be beneficial to reproduce the statement of objects and reasons of the Act of 1957, as to why this amendment was necessary which were published along with the Bill No. 33/71 for the Amending Act which has been published in the Gazette of India Part II Sec. 2 dated December 13, 1971 at page 1093 - "'the Cantonments (Extension of Rent Control Law) Act, 1957 (46 of 1957), was enacted by parliament under Article 246 of the Constitution read with Entry 3 of the Union List. In exercise of the powers conferred by section 3 of this Act, the Central Government has been extending by notification to any Cantonment any enactment relating to the control of rent and regulation of house accommodation which is in force on the date of the notification in the State in which the Cantonment is situated. 2. Before the Constitution came into force, the power to make laws with respect to rent control in cantonment areas belonged to the Legislatures of the former provinces and States. Certain State Legislatures had applied the laws with respect to rent control also to cantonment areas either under the provisions as prevailed before the Constitution or after the Constitution. In Indu Bhusan Bose Vs. Rama Sundari Bebi (AIR 1970 SC 228) the Supreme Court held that the general power of legislating in respect of relationship between landlord and tenant exercisable by a State Legislature either under Entry 18 of the State List, or Entries 6 and 7 of the Concurrent List, is subject to the overriding power of parliament in respect of matters in the Union List, so that the effect of Entry 3 of the Union List is that, on the subject of relationship between landlord and tenant in so far as it arises in respect of house accommodation situated in cantonment areas, parliament alone can legislate and not the State legislatures. The effect of this judgment was that the State law with respect to rent control did not apply to the cantonment situated within the State. To remove this difficulty the Central Govt. extended the relevant rent control laws under sec. 3 of the Cantonments (Extension of Rent Control Laws) Act, 1957. But these notifications could be issued only prospectively and could not have the decrees already passed. A number of representations have been received from and on behalf of tenants and tenant's associations ventilating their grievances in this regard. It is accordingly proposed to amend section 3 of this Act to empower the Government to extend to any cantonment any enactment relating to control of rent and regulation of house accommodation in force in the State in which the cantonment is situated either from the commencement of such enactment or from 26th January, 1950, the date when the constitution came into force, whichever is later, and to save decrees already passed under the enactment deemed to be in force in the Cantonment before such extension. (3 ). . . . . . " (4 ). . . . . . " Thereafter, the Rajasthan Act was again amended in 1975. The question before me is whether the amendments introduced or brought forward by the Amending Act of 1975, being retrospective in nature, were applicable to the cantonment area of Nasirabad or not. This point has been raised in several cases pending before this court. It will be useful to reproduce the notification issued by the Central Government in 1982, S. R. O. 229 dated September 3, 1982 published in Gazette of India, Part 2 section 4 dated 18. 9. 1982 at page 33 whereby the Central Government in supersession of its earlier notification No. 367 dated 23rd September, 1971, mentioned earlier, extended to the cantonment of Nasirabad the provisions of Rajasthan Premises (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act, 1950 as in force on the date of the Notification in the State of Rajasthan with certain modifications. "s. R. O. 229. In exercise of the powers conferred by section 3 of the Cantonments (Extension of Rent Control Laws) Act, 1957 (46 of 1957) and in supersession of the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Defence No. SRO 167 dated the 23rd September, 1971 published in Gazette of India dated 9th October, 1971 the Government hereby extends to the cantonment area of Nasirabad the Rajasthan Premises (Control of Rent and Eviction Act, 1950 (Rajasthan Act 17 of 1950) as in force on the date of this notification in the State of Rajasthan with the following modifications, namely:- In the Rajasthan Premises (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act, 1950 (Rajasthan Act 17 of 1950) - (1) in section 2" (a) for sub-section (1) of the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely "1 This Act extends to the Cantonment of Nasirabad" (b) in sub-section (2): (i) for the portion beginning with the words and figures "sections 1 to 4 and 27 to 31 of this Act" and ending with the words "in the Official Gazette" following words shall be substituted, namely:- (ii) In the proviso, after clause (c) the following clause shall be inserted namely:- (d) to any house within the Cantonment which is or may be appropriated by the Central Government (House Accommodation) Act, 1923 (6 of 1923), (iii) in the Explanation, after clause (iii) the following clause shall be inserted namely:- " (iv) A Cantonment Board". (2) in section 3- (a) clause (i) shall be renumbered as clause (ii) and before clause (ii) is so renumbered, the following clause shall be inserted namely:- " (1) "cantonment Board" means the Cantonment Board constituted far the cantonment of Nasirabad under the Cantonment Act, 1924 (2 of 1924) (ii) after clause (iv), the following clause shall be inserted, namely (iv-a) Local authority means Cantonment Board. (3) In section 6, in sub-section (2), the second proviso shall be omitted; (4) section 11-A shall be omitted; (5) in section 19, for the words 'municipal by a laws the words by a laws of the cantonment board shall be substituted; (6) in section 26, for the words the areas in which this Act extends for the time being the words in the Cantonment of Nasirabad shall be substituted; (7) in section 27 - (a) sub-section (1) shall be renumbered as sec. (2) and in section (2) so renumbered for the words increase to which the Act has been extended under section 2. 2. Notwithstanding such supersession, all suits and other proceedings under the said notification pending immediately before the commencement of this notification before any court or other authority shall continue to be disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the said notification as if the same had continued in force and this notification had not been issued; Provided that the procedure for appeal under the said notification shall continue in force in respect of suits and proceedings disposed of thereunder. " ;