Supreme Court of India
CHRIST THE KING CATHEDRALversusJOHN ANCHERIL AND ANR.
- Citation
- 2001 INSC 307
- Decided
- 24 July 2001
- Disposal
- Appeal(s) allowed
- Bench
- S RAJENDRA BABU
Holding
The exemption notifications issued under Section 25 of the Kerala Buildings (Land and Rent Control) Act, 1965 are valid and cannot be quashed.
Summary
The Kerala Government issued two notifications under Section 25 of the Kerala Buildings (Land and Rent Control) Act, 1965 exempting buildings belonging to churches, mosques, dioceses, monasteries, convents, wakfs and madrasas from the Act's rent‑control and eviction provisions. The Kerala High Court set aside the notifications, holding that the Government had exercised its discretionary power arbitrarily and without any material basis. On appeal, the Supreme Court examined whether such blanket exemptions violated Article 14 and whether the State had applied its mind in granting them. Relying on earlier decisions that recognised public religious and charitable trusts as a distinct class whose objects are served by exemption, the Court held that the notifications were valid and in the public interest. Consequently, the High Court's order was reversed and the exemption notifications were upheld.
Issues considered
- Whether the notifications issued under Section 25 of the Kerala Buildings (Land and Rent Control) Act, 1965 granting blanket exemption to religious and charitable institutions are valid.
- Whether the State exercised its discretion arbitrarily and in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution.
- Whether the State was required to show material or apply its mind before granting such exemptions.
Legislation cited
Subjects
rent controlexemptionpublic trustreligious institutionsArticle 14public interestleaseeviction
Judgment
A CHRIST THE KING CATHEDRAL
v. J-.-.. ...
JOHN ANCHERIL AND ANR.
JULY 24, 2001
B (S. RAJENDRA BABU AND SHIVARAJ V. PATIL, JJ.]
Rent Control and Eviction:
Kera/a Buildings (Land and Rent Control) Act, 1965-Section 25-
C Exemption notifications issued in public interest to buildings of Churches,
Mosques, Dioceses. Arch-dioceses, Monasteries, Convents, Wakfs and
Madarasas-Validity of-.:..Held, valid since that would benefit the minority
bodies to carry out their objects effectively.
State Government issued two notifications under Section 25 of the
D Kerala Buildings (Land and Rent Control) Act, 1965 exempting in public
interest the buildings of all Churches, Mosques, Dioceses, Arch-dioceses,
Monasteries, Convents, Wakfs and Madarasas from the provisions of the
Act. Writ Petitions were filed in High Court challenging the validity of the
notifications. The High Court quashed the exemption notifications holding
,
E that they were issued by the State Government arbitrarily without being
supported by any material for such exemptions. Hence this appeal.
The State Government contended that in another matter similar
exemptions granted under another State Act were upheld by this Court.
F The respondents contended that there was non-application of mind by
the State Government in granting exemptions under the Act; and that the
guidelines issued by this Court in S. Kandaswamy Chettiar v. State of Tamil
Nadu and Anr.. (1985) l SCC 290 were not followed by the State Government
before granting exemptions
G Allowing the appeals, the Court
HELD: 1.1. Public religious or charitable endowments or trust constitute
a well recognised group which serves not only public purposes but also
disbursement of their income, which is governed by the objects with which
H they are created, and buildings belpnging to such endowments or trusts
1112
CHRIST THE KING CATHEDRAL v. JOHN ANCHERIL 1113
clearly fall into a class distinct from the buildings owned by private landlords. A
A public trust, being a religious or a charitable institution, is not likely to
act unreasonably either in the matter of enhancement of rent or in the
eviction of tenants. f1116-B-U]
1.2. The purpose of the Kerala Buildings (Land and Rent Control) Act,
1965 is apparently to prevent unreasonable eviction and also to control rent. B
If the trustees of religious and public charities are given freedom to charge
normal market rent with further freedom to evict the tenants for not paying
such market rent, th~ result would be unjust and would cause hardship. But
apprehension, by itself, is not sufficient. There is no material on record to
show that the landlords would resort to such a course of action. On the other C
hand, it is clear that if the building belonging to such public trust or
- religious institution is exempt from the Act, then the purpose of the trust
could be carried out much better. If that is the object with which the
Government has granted exemption, then there is no reason to quash the
exemption notifications issued under the Act. (1117-A-C]
D
S. Kandaswamy Chettiar v. State of Tamil Nadu and Anr., (1985) 1
SCC 290; Jayakaran v. Kera/a Health R & W Society, [1994] 1 KLT 24;
State of Kera/av. Vijayan, [1978) KLT 342 and Lakshman v. Mohamood,
[1992) 1 KLT 85 FB, relied on.
P.J. Irani v. State of Madras, (1962) 2 SCR 169 and Rohtas Industries E
Ltd. v. S.D. Agarwal & Anr., [1969) 3 SCR 108, referred to.
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 5628 of
2000.
F
From the Judgment and Order dated 22.11.99 of the Kerala High Court
in O.P. No. 13769of1998.
WITH
C.A.Nos.5781,6375,6376,6378,6380,6381,6372,6374,6382,6373/2000 CJ
and C.A. No. 4456 of2001.
L. Nageshwara Rao, Joseph Kodianthars, M.P. Vinod, M.T. George,
T.G.N. Nair, A. Raghunath, G. Prakash, Romy Chacko, K.M.K. Nair, Ms. Malini
Poduval, Raj iv Mehta, Rauf Rahim and Rakesh K. Sharma for the appearing
parties. H
1114 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2001] 3 S.C.R.
A The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
RAJENDRA BABU, J.: CA.Nos. 5628/2000, 578112000, 6375/2000, 6376/
2000, 6378/ 2000, 6380/2000, 6381/2000, 6372/2000, 6374/2000 and C.A. No.
4456/2001 (arising out ofS.L.P. (C) No. 11259/2000)
,,,. B Leave granted in S.L.P. (C) No. 11259/2000.
Two notifications were issued under Section 25 of the Kerala Buildings
(Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1965 (for short 'the Act')-one S.R.O. No. 435/
92 issued on 7.3.92 published in the Kerala Gazette on 7.4.92, which exempted
C in public interest the buildings of all Churches/Mosques of all the minority
religions from the provisions of Sections 4, 5, 7, 8, 11 and 13 of the Act and
another notification S.R.O. No. 769196 was published exempting buildings of
all Dioceses, Arch-dioceses, Monasteries, Convents, Wakfs and Madarsas
also from the provisions of Sections 4, 5, 7, 8, 11 and 13 of the Act and
-
amended earlier notification. A batch of writ petitions was filed in the High
D Court challenging the validity of these notifications. The High Court held that
there is no application of mind by the Government in issuing the impugned
notifications resulting in arbitrary exercise of the discretionary powers
conferred upon a statutory authority and there is no material before the
Government to exercise such exemptien. In reaching this conclusion, the High •
E Court took into consideration that the buildings of Churches or Mosques are
commercially used and, therefore, granting of exemption under Section 25 of
. the Act on the basis of ownership is not right. The High Court also proceeded
to consider the scope of secular nature of the Constitution and observed that
conferment of power upon the Government to grant such blanket exemptions
would defeat the very power conferred on it.
F
In the counter affidavit the State supported the exemptions on the basis
of the law declared by this Court. This Court in P.J. Irani v. State of Madras,
[1962] 2 SCR 169, held that a similar power vested under the Madras Buildings
(Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1949 to exempt any building from the provisions
G of the Madras Act is not violative of Article 14 of the Constitution by holding
that the charitable and religious trusts or endowments fall into a separate
class. In S. Kandaswamy Chettiar v. State of Tamil Nadu & Anr., [1985] 1
SCC 290, this Court upheld grant of total exemption in respect of buildings
belonging to public trusts, religious or charitable in nature, on the basis that
such trusts constituted a well recognised distinct group inasmuch they not
H only serve public purpose, but the disbursement of their income is governed
CHRIST THE KING CATHEDRAL v. JOHN ANCHERIL [RAJENDRA BABU, J.) J J15
by the objects with which they are created A
On an earlier occasion in Jayakaran v. Kera/a Health R& W Society,
(1994) 1 KLT 24, the High Court held as follows: -
"Grant of exemption in favour of charitable bodies like the petitioner
must be held to be in public interest. Even though no reasons are B
stated in the notification granting exemption it is enough if it is stated
in the counter-affidavit. The notification granting exemption is
undisputably being in public interest, the same is not open to challenge
on the ground urged in the Original Petition."
The High Court after referring to the said decision held that the exercise C
-
of discretionary power is subject to test of reasonableness but observed that
by one stroke the entire buildings owned by minority religions in the State
have been taken away from the purview of the Act without being supported
by any material enabling the Government to consider the issue in a legal and
proper manner uninfluenced by any extraneous considerations or acting under D
the dictation of a third party. The High Court compared the provisions under
the Tamil Nadu Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1960 considered in
S. Kandaswamy Chettiar case (supra) and the provisions of the Act under
consideration and drew a distinct. between the two provisions. The relevant
portions of the said two Acts are as follows :
E
Section 29 of the Tamil Nadu Act Section 25 of the Act
29. Exemption - Notwithstanding any Notwithstanding anything
thing contained in this Act, the contained in this Act, the
Government may, subject to such Government may, in public interest p
conditions as they deem fit, by or for any other sufficient cause,
notification, exempt any building or by notification in the Gazette,
class of buildings from all or any of the exempt any of the provisions of
provisions of this Act. the Act.
The High Court noticed that the power of exemption under Section 29
G
of the Tamil Nadu Act is general in nature, while such power could be
exercised under the Act only "in public interest or for any other sufficient
" ·cause". But, we find that distinction sought to be made by the High Court
on the basis of language of these two provisions is not well fou"nded. The
Government may grant exemption and while granting exemption even under H
~
I .
I
. "' .,,
/
1116 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2001] 3 S.C.R.
A the Tamil Nadu Act it has got to bear in mind that it should be in public
interest or for any other sufficient cause and it cannot be whimsical or
arbitrary exercise of these powers as such action could attract the wrath of
Article 14 of the Constitution. Therefore, distinction sought to be made by
the High Court between these two provisions is not of much materiality.
B The law had been stated by this Court to the effect that public religious
or charitable endowments or trusts constitute a well recognised group which
serves not only public purposes, but disbursement of their income is governed
by the objects with which they are created and buildings belonging to such
endowments or trusts clearly fall into a class distinct from the buildings
C owned by private landlords. It is in respect of three areas a regulation would
be made under the Act, as has been done in other similar enactments and
these areas are (i) with respect to regulation of lease of buildings (residential
or non-residential); (ii) control of rent of such buildings and (iii) control of
eviction of tenants from such buildings. A public trust, as has been held in
S. Kandaswamy Chettiar case (supra), is not likely to unreasonably act either
D in the matter of enhancement of rent or eviction of tenants being institutions
of religion or charity. On that basis, this Court upheld the validity of the
exemption granted under the Tamil Nadu Act in favour of such trust or
endowment. In the present case, the contention has been specifically put
forth that the appellants fall into that very category which came up for
E consideration before this Court in S. Kandaswamy Chettiar case (supra).
Therefore, no distinction can be made between that class of owners of the
buildings in that case and in. the present case. We do not understand as to
what other material was required by the Court in a matter of this nature if the
contention put forth before this Court is not that Churches or Mosques,
Dioceses, Arch-dioceses, Monasteries, Convents, Wakfs and Madarsas are
F not religious and charitable in nature.
Shri Nageshwar Rao, the learned counsel appearing for the contesting
respondents, submitted that there is total non-application .of mind by the
Government in the matter of grant of exemption and the guidelines indicated
in S. Kandaswamy Chettiar case (supra} have not been followed in the
G present case and, therefore, the exemption should not have been granted in
the present case. In S. Kandaswamy Chettiar case (supra) an affidavit had
been filed as to the lower rents that was being paid and the tenants were
exploiting the situation and brought, the charitable institutions to a situation
of helplessness and that position nol having been challenged the Court made
H those orders. If we bear ·in mind the fact that the purpose of the Act is
CHRIST THE KING CATHEDRAL v. JOHN ANCHERIL [RAJENDRA BABU, J.] 1117
apparently to prevent unreasonable eviction and also to control rent and if A
Lite trustees of religious and public charities are given freedom to charge
normal market rent with the further freedom to evict the tenants for not paying
such market rent, the result would be unjust and causes hardship to them.
But apprehension, by itself, is not sufficient. There is no material on record
to show that in any of these cases the landlords would resort to such a
course of action. On the other hand, if the building belonging to such public B
trust or religious institution is exempt from Act, the purpose of the trust could
be carried out much better is quite clear. If that is the object with which the
Governrnent has granted exemption, we do not think, there is any reason to
quash the notifications impugned before the High Court.
c
The High Court has unnecessarily gone at tangent on various
constitutional and administrative law questions which are wholly unnecessary
to be decided in the present case. The High Court ought to have riveted its
attention only to the aspect whether there was due application of mind to the
issue of notifications in question in terms of the provisions of the Act and,
if that aspect was satisfied, no further questions arose for consideration in D
the present case and thus the observations made by the High Court, in our
view with respect, are irrelevant.
.. An argument is sought to be raised on the basis of ownership of
property that there should not have been a distinction as is being made in
the present case. That was the very basis of distinction made in case of
E
statutory bodies like the Housing Board, local authorities which was noticed
in the Jayakaran v. Kera/a Health R & W Society case (supra) or registered
Wakfs which was considered in Lakshmanan v. Mohamood, (1992) 1KLT85
(FB). When such bodies or institutions falling fo a distinct class by themselves
and exemption granted to them would serve a public purpose, namely, to carry F
out the objects of the trust or the endowment or religious activity in a broad
sense, we do not think that the fine distinction sought to be made by the High
Court in this regard is justified.
:
Reliance is placed before us on the decision in Rohtas Industries Ltd. G
v. S.D. Agarwal & Anr., [1969] 3 SCR 108, to contend that if there is no
material at all upon which the authority could form the requisite opinion, the
Court may infer that the authority passed the order without applying its mind
to the relevant facts. But, in the present case, we should look at the fact that
this Court had in S. Kandaswamy Chettiar case (supra) explained the scope
of the provisions similar to Section 25 of the Act and the parameters within H
1118 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2001) 3 S.C.R.
A which such power could be exercised. Thereafter, the Kerala High Court in
Jayakaran v. Kera/a Health R & W Society case (supra) had upheld the
notification as being in public interest even in the absence of any reasons
being stated in the notification. Again, the same Court had upheld a similar
notification in relation to property belonging to Devaswom Board in State of
Kera/av. Vijayan, (1978) KLT 342, and to a wakfinlakshmanan v. Mohamood
B case (supra). Therefore, we think that the decision of the High Court has to
be set aside and the notifications issued impugned in the two writ petitions
are held to be valid.
The writ petitions deserve to be dismissed by allowing civil appeals.
C Ordered accordingly. No.costs.
C.A. Nos. 637312000 and 638212000.
In view of the orders made in Civil Appeal No. 5628/2000 and connected
matters, these civil appeals shall stand dismissed.
D B.S. Appeals allowed.
,J-
-
•,
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