D N SANGHAVI AND SONS Vs. AMBALAL TRIBHUWAN DAS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The facts of this case fall within a short compass. The respondent, Amba Lal Tribhuwan Das, is the owner of the suit accommodation. It is situated in Siyaganj, Indore. The appellants 2 to 4 are carrying on business in the name of the first appellant, D. N. Singhavi and Sons. They are the tenants of the accommodation. Courts below have held that it was being used predominantly as a shop by them and that a part of it was being used by them as their residence for the sake of more efficient conduct of the business they were carrying on in the shop. The respondent purchased the shop some time in 1963. The appellant were then carrying on their business in the shop. They attorned to the respondent. On October 10, 1964, the respondent gave the requisite notice to them to vacate. On November 16, 1964 he instituted a suit for their ejectment from the accommodation. It was alleged by him that he needed the accommodation for continuing "his business" within the meaning of Section 12 (1) (f) of the Madhya Pradesh Accommodation Control Act, 1961 (hereinafter called the Act). At the evidence stage he gave evidence that it was needed for partnership business. There arose two crucial questions in the case:(1) What is the meaning of the phrase "his business" in Section 12 (1) (f) (2) whether in the circumstances of the case the business for which he required the accommodation could be said to be "his business". The first question arose because he wanted the accommodation for continuing the business of a partnership firm of which he was one partner. There were two other partners. They are his brothers. The trial court held against the respondent on the second issue and dismissed the suit. No view was expressed on this issue. The respondent filed an appeal from the judgment. The appeal court reversed the judgment and decreed the suit for ejectment of the appellant. The appeal court recorded this finding of fact:

(2.) It is evident from this passage that the High Court, like the appeal court, has overlooked the words of Section 12 (1) (f) in arriving at its conclusion. The High Court considered that it is an elementary proposition of law that a partnership business is the business of cach and every partner so that it will be "his business". It seems that the High Court was misled by the apparent meaning of this phrase so that the necessity of examining the scheme of the Act and the setting of clause (f) of Section 12 (1) to discover its real meaning was not felt at all. But this is the first thing on which the High Court should have fixed attention. After all, it is a matter of statutory construction. And in such a case all attempts at construction should converge on the statute at hand, lest the reasoning should become abstract and artificial, having no contact with reality. The High Court has sought support from a decision of the erstwhile Nagpur High Court. (Rajniklal and Co. v. Vithal Pandurang Kawade, AIR 1952 Nag 312). Here again, the High Court did not take care to notice the similarities and dissimilarities between the law which fell for consideration in that case and the law which falls for construction in this appeal.

(3.) With these preliminary comments, we pass on to the real issue:What does "his business" mean in Section 12 (1) (f) The meaning is to be determined by examining the object of the Act and the setting of the phrase "his business". The Act deals with the difficult problem of scarcity of accommodation and seeks to distribute accommodation in a fair way amongst those who need.