MISTRY KANHYA LAL MADAN LAL Vs. SHRI MANI SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This second appeal is against the order of the Rent Control Tribunal, Delhi, whereby appeal of Mistri Kanhya Lal Madan Lal was dismissed with costs.

(2.) The facts relevant for purposes of the appeal he within a short compass. The appellant is owner of house No. 8436, Paharganj, New Delhi, which he purchased in the year 1955. A portion of the premises, comprising of a room and a 'Kolki' was in occupation of Mani Singh as a tenant at the agreed rent of Rs. 8/8- per month, including house tax but exclusive of electricity charges. On Sept. 15, 1960 the said tenant applied to the Rent Controller for fixation of the standard rent. The premises were stated to have been constructed before the year 1930 and the petitioner to have been in possession of the above mentioned portion as a tenant from the year 1945-46. The landlord in his reply admitted the tenancy of Mani Singh but denied that the construction had been completed before the year 1930 "for want of knowledge." The date of giving the portion in question on lease was stated to be June 7, 1956, and not the year 1945-46. It was pleaded that the standard rent was higher than the agreed rent.

(3.) On Dec. 26, 1960 Shri B. L. Mago, then Rent Controller, Delhi, held that the standard rent under the provision of section 9 of the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958 (herein again referred to as the Act) would be equal to the agreed rent. The tenant went in appeal to the Rent Control Tribunal. His appeal was accepted by Shri Pritam Singh Pattar on Nov. 3, 1961 and the case was remanded for re-decision. The Rent Control Tribunal directed the Controller to appoint a local Commissioner to assess the cost of construction and the price of the land and to fix the standard rent under section 6 of the Act. After the case was remanded Shri Asa Singh Gill, who had by then become the Rent Controller, fixed the standard rent of the portion of the premises in occupation of the tenant at Rs. 5.00 per month with effect from Sept. 1, 1960. Appeal filed to the Rent Control Tribunal was dismissed and thereafter the present second appeal was preferred.