KESHORAM PODDAR Vs. NUNDO LAL MULLICK

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant in this case is the tenant, and the respondent is the landlord of certain premises in Calcutta.

(2.) The appellant was let into possession on June 1, 1920, as a tenant, but the rent payable was not then fixed, He remained in possession until March, 1923, and the question raised by the case is, what rent ought to be paid for that period of occupation.

(3.) After the entry in June, 1923, the question of rent being mooted, the respondent demanded from the appellant rent at the rate of Rs. 4,500 per mensem, inclusive of taxes. The appellant conceiving that this demand was excessive, decided to avail himself of the provisions of the Calcutta Rent Act (Ben. Act III of 1920), which had come into force on May 5, 1920. By that Act, either the landlord or the tenant may apply to the Controllor of Rates, an officer appointed under the Act, to fix the standard rent. By Section 18 of the Act an appeal is given from his decision to the President of the Improvement Tribunal, whose decision is declared to be final. The appellant accordingly applied to the Controller. On October 23, 1922, the Controller fixed the rent at Rs. 4,500 per month; on November 25, 1922, the appellant appealed to the President of the Improvement Tribunal to review that decision. The President, whose time was fully occupied by appeals, did not take up the appellant's appeal at once, but from time to time adjourned the hearing, so that it was only finally disposed of on August 3, 1924. He disposed of it by holding that he had no jurisdiction to determine the matter. This he did because of two Acts which had been passed while the case was waiting for hearing before him.