Holding

A deposit of rent under Section 19A(3)(c) is invalid unless the tenant first complies with either clause (a) or clause (b), and the tenant failed to prove service of the required notice, so the eviction decree stands.

Summary

The tenant occupied a shop in the landlord's building and fell into arrears of rent, prompting the landlord to file an eviction suit under Section 13 of the Rajasthan Premises (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act, 1950. The tenant had previously deposited rent in court under Section 19A, and again attempted to do so after a second default, claiming that the landlord had failed to provide a bank account after a notice. The Supreme Court examined the interpretation of the words "or" and "and" in clauses (a), (b) and (c) of Section 19A(3) and held that the three methods of payment are alternative, but a deposit under clause (c) is only valid if the tenant has first complied with either clause (a) or clause (b). The Court further held that a notice sent by certificate of posting, not by registered post, does not attract the permissive presumption of service under Section 114 of the Evidence Act, and the tenant failed to prove such service. Consequently, the tenant's deposit was not a valid payment, and the eviction decree was upheld. The appeal was dismissed with costs, and the tenant was given a deadline to vacate the premises. The judgment clarifies the statutory scheme for rent payment and the evidential burden on tenants seeking to deposit rent in court.

Issues considered

The meaning of the word 'or' in clauses (a) and (b) of Section 19A(3) and whether they constitute alternative methods of rent payment.
Whether the word 'and' in clause (c) of Section 19A(3) should be read as disjunctive to allow deposit after either (a) or (b).
The applicability of the presumption of service under Section 114 of the Evidence Act to a notice sent by certificate of posting.
Whether the tenant complied with the statutory requirement of giving notice under clause (b) before depositing rent in court.
Whether a deposit made under clause (c) can be deemed payment of rent for the purposes of Section 13(4) and (6).

Legislation cited

Code of Civil Procedure, 1908s. Order 13 Rule 2
Indian Evidence Act, 1872s. 114
Rajasthan Premises (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act, 1950s. 13, s. 19A

Subjects

rentevictiondeposit of rentSection 19Astatutory interpretationnotice of servicelandlord-tenantRajasthan Premises Act

Judgment

FAKIR MOHD. (DEAD) BY LRS. A
v.
SITA RAM

DECEMBER 10, 2001

[R.C. LAHOTI AND BRIJESH KUMAR, JJ.] B

Rent and Eviction :

Rajas!han Premises (Control Qf Rent and Evie/ion) Act, 1950:

Sections 13 and 19A: c
Eviction of tenant-De.fault in payment of rent-Validity ofdeposit of rent
in Court under Clause (c)-Clauses (a) and (b) Qf sub-section (3) of Section 19
are separated by the word 'or' which is disjunctive-When payment in person
or by postal money order is refused or landlord fails to comply with tenants D
notice under clause (b) in either case tenant is entitled to deposit rent in the
Court.

Section 19-A(J)(b)-Service of Notice to landlord to specify Bank Ac-
count Number for depositing rent-Jn the absence of provision on mode of
service most common and usual mode of sending notice by registered post E
should be .followed-When tenant has failed to sent the notice by Registered
post, presumption under Section 1141.f) could not be drawn.

Eviction Act, 1872 :
F
Section 114 :

Presumption drawn under is pennissive-On .facts and circumstances of
given case Court may re.fuse to draw such presumption-Notice sent under
certificate Qfposting-Onfacts, presumption as to service re.fused to be drawn.
G
Words and Phrases :

'or' and 'and'-Meaning of. in the context ofSection 19 of the Rajasthan
premises (Control Qf Rent and Eviction) Act, 1950:

The appellant-tenant was in occupation of a portion of the premises H
575
576 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2001] SUPP. 5 S.C.R.
A owned by respondent-landlord. Earlier a suit was filed for eviction of the
tenant for his failure to pay or tender the rent. It was dismissed as the
tenant had deposited the rent and was thus protected under Section 13(4)
and 13(6) of the Rajasthan Premises (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act, ·
1950. The tenant again fell into arrears of rent for a certain period. The
B landlord filed a suit under Section 13(1)(a) of the Act on the ground of
second default. The tenant deposited the rent in the Court as per provision
under Section 19A of the Act. The Trial Court held the deposits to be valid
deposits under Section 19A and dismissed the suit. First Appellate Court
reversed the decision of the Trial Court and decreed the suit by holding
that the deposits not to be valid deposits. High Court dismissed the appeal
c preferred by the tenant and upheld the decree of eviction passed by the
Appellate Court. Hence this appeal.

It was contended for the appellant-tenant that as the landlord was
avoiding to accept the amount of rent tendered by him then a notice to the
D landlord had been issued through his local counsel calling upon him to
disclose the Bank Account Number and nature of bank account to enable
him to deposit the amount of rent in the landlord's account. Since landlord
gave no response to the notice, the rent amount was deposited in the Court
as per the provisions under Section 19·A(3)(c) of the Act, which shall be
deemed to be a payment made to landlord under Section 19A(4) of the Act.
E
It was contended for the respondent-landlord that the tenant must
comply with requirement of both the Clauses (a) and (b) of Section 19·A(3)
followed by landlord's failure to respond, whereupon only a right to make
a deposit under Clauses (c) of Section 19-A(3) accrues to the tenant and
F deposit will be a valid deposit and Section 19-A(4) shall come into play.

Dismissing the appeal, the Court

HELD : 1.1. Section 19-A of the Rajasthan Premises (Control of Rent
and Eviction) Act, 1950 is intended to lake care of recalcitrant tenants who
G either do not pay the rent when due or raise false pleas of payment or tender
so as to harass the landlord and indulge in litigation by raising frivolous
pleas much to the chagrin of landlord, sub-section (3) lakes care of a situa-
tion where there may be a controversy as to whether the tenant fulfilled his

H
obligation to make payment, apart from personal payment or rent by the
tenant, two other methods are prescribed for payment or tender of rent
-
FAKIR MOHD. v. SITA RAM 577
available to be utilized at the options of the tenant. To this extent there ap· A
pears to be uo ambiguity in the language employed by the legislature in as
much as clauses (a) and (b) of sub-section (3) are separated by the use of
word 'or'. Controversy arises on the interpretation of clause (c) wherein the
" claµse contemplating remittance of rent by postal money order and the clause
relating to default by landlord to supply particulars of bank account
, ,
are B
joined by conjunction 'and'. [583-A·C; 583-F; G]

1.2. The use of the word 'or' manifest the legislative Intent that such
personal payment, remittance or deposit are three alternative methods of
payment. This conclusion Is reinforced by the legislative drafting of sub·
section (4) which provides that obligation of the tenant to pay or tender the c
rent due, as contemplated by sub-section(l) shall be deemed to have been
fulfilled if the rent due has been paid, remitted or deposited by any of the
methods specified in sub-section (3). However, Clause (c) of sub-section (3),
while speaking of the several methods of payment uses the word 'and' in
between methods of remittance by postal money order and of depositing in D
bank account, which in the context has to be read as disjunctive. The word
'or' is normally disjunctive and the word 'and' is normally conjunctive. But
at times they are read as vice-versa to give effect to the manifest intent of the
Legislature as disclosed from the context. It is permissible to read 'or' as
'and' as also vice-versa if some other part of the same statute or the legisla·
E
tive intent clearly spelled out, requires that to be done. Thus, the tenant's
right to deposit the rent due in the Court under Clause (c) arises if such
deposit is preceded by the tenant having adopted one of the two methods
contemplated by Clauses (a) and (b) of Section 19-A(3). [584·E·G; 585-A; B]

Statutory Interpretation by Justice G.P. Singh, 8th Edition, 2001, P. 370, F
referred to .
• 2.1. Clause (b) of Section 19-A(3) speaks of notice in writing but does
not prescribe the manner of sending and serving the notice. If a notice is
sent through registered post, a presumption as to service .arises under
Section 30 of the Rajasthan General Clause Act read with Section 114 of
G
the Evidence Act. It was obligatory on the part of ~he tenant to prove the
service of notice in view of the statement on oath given by the landlord
denying receipt of any such notice. [585-E; Fl

2.2. The most common and usual mode of sending notice Is by post. H
578 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2001] SUPP. 5 S.C.R.
A When the notice in writing is to be sent by post and mode of service is not
specified, Section 30 of the General Clauses Act comes into play. The
notice should be sent by properly addressing, pre-paying and posting the
. same by registered post, which the tenant has failed to do in the present
case. The presumption arising under Section 114 of the Evidence Act is a "
B permissive presumption which the Court may or may not raise depending
on the facts and circumstances of a particular case.(585-G; H; 586-A; Bl

2.3. There is no reason why the tenant should not have sent the ..
notice to the landlord through registered post. Advocate through whom
the notice was alleged to have been sent, has not been examined. Further,
c it is interesting to note that a plea as to any notice in writing under Section
19-A(3)(b) having been sent to the landlord and that too under a certifi-
cate of posting, is not raised in the written statement. On the totality of the
facts and circumstances of the case, it would not be safe to draw the
presumption under Section 114(0 of the Evidence Act in favour of the
D tenant and to hold that requisite notice was sent by the tenant to the
landlord. [586-D-GJ

Shiv Kumar and Ors. v. State of Haryana and Ors.• [1994] 4 SCC 445,
referred to.

E CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 3454 of 1998.

From the Judgment and Order dated 19.5.98 of the Rajasthan High Court
in S.B.C.S.A. No. 86 of 1995.

B.D. Sharma and Ms. Deep Shikha Bharati for the Appellants.
F
Ms. Madhurima Tatia, R.M. Tatia and Indra Makwana for the Respondent.
•
The judgment of the Court was delivered by

R.C. LAHOTI, J. A suit for ejectment of the tenant from a shop on the
G ground available under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of Section 13 of Rajasthan
Premises (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act, 1950 (hereinafter the "Act", for
short), filed by the respondent, was dismissed by the trial Court. In an appeal
preferred by the respondent, the first appellate Court reversed the decision of
trial court and decreed the suit. The High Court has ·dismissed the second
H appeal preferred by the tenant and upheld the decree of eviction passed by the
FAKIR MOHD. v. SITA RAM [R.C. LAHOTI, J.] 579
appellate court. The legal representatives of the tenant, who has died during A
litigation, have filed this appeal by Special Leave. For the sake of convenience
we will refer to the appellants as 'tenant' and the respondent as 'landlord'.

The relevant facts, to the extent not in controversy, may briefly be stated.
The landlord owns a house in which there are four shops on the ground floor,
one of which is in occupation of the tenant on a monthly rent of Rs.55. Earlier B

- a suit seeking eviction of tenant for his failure to pay or tender the amount of
rent due from him was filed but the same was dismissed on account of the
tenant having earned protection from eviction by making payment/deposit
under sub-Section (4) and (6) of Section 13. Once again the tenant fell into
arrears of rent for the period from 1.3.1985 to 30.6.1986. The present suit was C
filed on the ground of second default. On 4.5.1985, the tenant had deposited
in Court 6 months' rent vide challan No. 36 in Civil Misc. Case No.27/85 and
subsequently, on 30.10.1985, another 12 months' rent vide tender No.2230 in
Civil Misc. Case No. 89/85. Both these deposits were made under Section 19A
of the Act. The Trial Court held the deposits to be valid deposits under Section D
19A while the First Appellate Court and the High Court have held the deposits
not to be valid and hence the tenant to be a defaulter. The controversy centers
around the interpretation of Section 19A. Sections 13 and 19A, which are
relevant, are extracted and reproduced hereunder:

"Sec.13 - Eviction of tenants.- (1) Notwithstanding anything con- E
tained in any law or contract, no court shall pass any decree, or make
any order, in favour of a landlord, whether in execution of a decree or
otherwise, evicting the tenant so long as he is ready and willing to pay
rent therefore to the full extent allowable by this Act, unless it is
satisfied - F
(a) that the tenant has neither paid nor tendered the amount of rent
due from him for six months; or

(3) In a suit for eviction on the ground set forth in clause (a) of sub-
section (I) with or without any of the other grounds referred to in that G
sub-section, the court shall, on the first date of hearing or on any other
date as the court may fix in this behalf which shall not be more than
three months after filing of the written statement and shall be before
the framing of the issues, after hearing the parties and on the basis of
material on record provisionally determine the amount of rent to be H
580 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2001] SUPP. 5 S.C.R.
A deposited in court or paid to the landlord by the tenant. Such amount
shall be calculated at the rate of rent at which it was last paid or was
payable for the period for which the tenant may have made default
including the period subsequent thereto upto the end of the month
previous to that in which such determination is made together with
B interest on such amount calculated at the rate of six percent per annum
from the date when any such amount was payable upto the date of
determination.

Provide<l that while determining the amount under this sub-
·-
section, the court shall not take into account the amount of rent which
c was barred by limitation on the date of the filing of the suii.

(4) The tenant shall deposit in court or pay to the landlord the amount
determined by the court under sub-section (3) within fifteen days from
the date of such determination, or within such further time, not exceed-
ing three months, as may be extended by the court. The tenant shall
D
also continue to deposit in court or pay to the landlord, month by
month the monthly rent subsequent to the period up to which deter-
mination has been made, by the fifteenth of each succeeding month or
within such further time, not exceeding fifteen days, as may be ex-
tended by the court, at the monthly rate at which the rent was deter-
E mined by the court under sub-section (3).

(5) If a tenant fails to deposit or pay any amount referred to in sub-
section (4) on the date or within the time specified therein, the court
shall order the defence against eviction to be struck out and shall
proceed with the hearing of the suit.
F
(6) If a tenant makes deposit or payment as required by sub-section (4)
no decree for eviction on the ground specified in clause (a) of sub-sec.
(.!) shall be passed by the court against him:

G Provided that a tenant shall not be entitled to any relief under this
sub-section, if having obtained such benefit or benefits under section
.
13-A in respect Qf any such accommodation if he again makes a default
in the payment of Rent of that accommodation for six months.

Sec.19-A. Payment, remittance and deposit ()f Rent by tenant. - (I)
H Subject to the provisions of this section every tenant shall pay rent
FAKIR MOHD. v. SITA RAM [R.C. LAHOTI, J.] 581
within the time fixed by contract or in the absence of such contract, A
by the fifteenth day of the month next following the month for which
it is payable.

(2) Every tenant who makes a payment on account of rent shall be
entitled to obtain a receipt for the amount paid duly signed by the
landlord or his authorised agent. B

(3) A tenant may, apart from personal payment ofrent to the landlord,
remit or deposit rent by any of the following methods-

(a) he may remit the amount of any rent due from him by postal
money order at the ordinary address of the landlord; or
c
(b) he may, by notice in writing, require the landlord to specify
within ten days from the date of receipt of the notice by the latter,
a bank and account number into which the rent may be deposited
by the tenant to the credit of the landlord. If the landlord specifies D
a bank and account number, the tenant shall deposit the rent in
"I
such bank and account number and shall continue to deposit in
it any rent which may subsequently become due in respect of the
premises:

Provided that such bank shall be one situated in the city or town E
in which the premises is situated;

Provided further it shall be open to the landlord to specify from
time to time by a written notice to the tenant and subject to the proviso
aforesaid, a bank different from the one already specified by him under F
this clause;

(c) Where he has remitted the rent by postal money order under clause
(a) and the money order is received back by him under a postal
endorsement of refusal or unfound and where the landlord does not
) specify a bank and account number under clause (b) or where there is G
bonafide doubt as to the person or persons to whom the rent is payable,
the tenant may deposit such rent with the court within fifteen days of
the expiry of the period of ten days referred to in clause (b) and in the
case of such bonafide doubt as aforesaid, within fifteen days of the
time referred to in sub-sec.(!) and further continue to deposit with the H
582 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2001] SUPP. 5 S.C.R.
A court any rent which may subsequently become due in respect of the
premises.

(4) For the purpose of clause (a) of sub-sec.(!) of Section 13; a tenant
shall be deemed to have paid or tendered the amount of any rent due
from him, if he has paid, remitted or deposited the amount of rent by
B any of the methods specified in sub-section (3).

(5) The deposit with the court shall be accompanied by an application
by teriant containing the following particulars, namely -
..
(a) The accommodation for which the rent is deposited with a
c description sufficient for identifying the premises;

(b) the period for which the rent is deposited;

(c) the name and address of the landlord or the person or persons
claiming to be entitled to such rent;
D
(d) the reason and circumstances for which the application for de-
,.
positing the rent is made."

According to the learned counsel for the tenant, the landlord was avoid-
ing to accept the amount of rent tendered by him, and therefore, on 12.2.1985
E
through his local counsel he had given a notice to the landlord calling upon
him to disclose his bank, bank account number and nature of bank account so
that the tenant could deposit the amount of rent in the landlord's bank account.
The landlord gave no response to the notice, and therefore, the tenant deposited
the amount of rent in arrears in the court consistently with clause (c) of sub-
F section (3) of Section 19-A of the Act which deposit shall be deemed to be a
payment or tender, to the landlord under sub-section (4) of Section 19-A. The
First Appellate Court and the High Court have held that in order to be a valid
deposit under Section 19-A, the deposit in the court must be preceded by a
remittance by postal money order at the ordinary address of the landlord and
f
G in the event of such money order being received back then by a notice in
writing to the landlord calling for the particdars contemplated by Section 19-
A (3)(b) and it is only after having taken both the steps consecutively that the
tenant becomes entitled to make a deposit in the court. In as much as it is not .
the case of the tenant that he tendered the rent due by postal money order to
H the landlord, the deposit was not valid as one of the pre-conditions for making
FAKIR MOHD. v. SITA RAM [R.C. LAHOTJ, J.] 583
a deposit in the court was missing. Aggrieved by the judgment of the High A
Court, the tenant has preferred this appeal by special leave.

Section 19-A is intended to take care of recalcitrant tenants who either
do not pay the rent when due or raise false pleas of payment or tender so as
to harass the landlord and indulge in litigation by raising frivolous pleas much B
to the chagrin of landlords. Sub-section (I) obliges the tenant to pay the rent
in accordance with the contract and in the absence of contract by the fifteenth
day of the month next following the month for which the rent is payable. The
landlord is obliged by sub-section (2) to issue a receipt or acknowledgement
for any payment on account of rent. Sub-section (3) takes care of a situation
where there may be a controversy as to whether the tenant fulfilled his obli-
c
gation to make payment. Apart from personal payment of rent by the tenant
to the landlord, two other methods are prescribed for payment or tender of rent
available to be utilized at the option of the tenant. He may remit the amount
of any rent due and payable by him, by postal money order and it would suffice
if the money order bears an address which is the ordinary address of the
D
landlord. The other alternative is that he may by notice require the landlord to
specify, within 10 days from the date ofthe receipt of the notice by the landlord,
the name of a bank and bank account number wherein the tenant may deposit
the rent due. On service of such notice, it is the obligation of the landlord to
inform the tenant of the requisite particulars whereupon the tenant may avail E
the facility of payment of rent by depositing it in the bank account specified
by the landlord. Deposit in such bank account discharges the tenant of his
obligation to pay or tender the rent.

To this extent, there appears to be no ambiguity in the language em- F
ployed by the legislature in as much as clauses (a) and (b) of sub-section (3)
are separated by the use of word "or". Controversy arises, and the parties are
at issue, on the interpretation of clause (c) wherein, the clause contemplating
remittance of rent by postal money order and the clause relating to default by
landlord to supply particulars of bank account are joined by conjunction 'and'. G
A plain reading of the provision may give an impression that the tenant must
remit the rent due by postal money order under clause (a) and, on such money
order being received back by him under a postal endorsement of refusal or
unfound, call upon the landlord by serving a notice in writing to specify the
particulars of a bank account for the purpose of depositing therein the rent due. H
584 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2001] SUPP. 5 S.C.R.
A It is on the failure of the landlord in complying with such demand of the tenant
that the latter gets a right to deposit the rent in the court. In short, it is the
submission of the learned counsel for the landlord that the tenant must comply
with the requirement of both the clauses (a) and (b) of sub-section (3), followed
by landlord's failure to respond, whereupon only a right to make a deposit in
B Court under clause (c) accrues to tenant. If the tenant has taken only one of
the two steps contemplated by clauses (a) and (b), then a right to make deposit
in the court under clause (c) would not accrue to the tenant and even if made,
it will not be a valid deposit and the deeming fiction of payment or tender of
the amount of rent due provided by sub-section (4) shall not come into play.

C We find it difficult to agree with the interpretation so sought to be placed
by the learned counsel for landlord. In our opinion, clauses (a) and (b) of sub-
section (3) are separated by word 'or' which is disjunctive and failure of
payment by any of the two methods for the fault of the landlord would enable
the tenant to deposit rent in the court and such deposit shall be a valid deposit
D so as to be deemed to be a payment or tender of rent due within the meaning
of sub-section (4) of Section 19A. The opening part of sub-section (3) of
Section 19A provides for three modes of payment without intervention of
Court. These are : (i) personal payment of rent to the landlord, (ii) remitting
the amount by postal money order, and (iii) depositing the rent due in the bank.
The use of the word 'or' therein manifests the legislative intent that such
E
personal payment, remittance or deposit are three alternative methods of pay-
ment. This conclusion is reinforced by the legislative drafting of sub-section
(4) which provides that the obligation of the tenant to pay or tender the rent
due, as contemplated by sub-section (I), shall be deemed to have been fulfilled
if the rent due and has been paid, remitted or deposited by any of the methods
F specified in sub-section (3), i.e. paid personally or remitted by postal money
order or deposited in the bank. However, clause (c) of sub-section (3), while
speaking of the several methods of payment, uses the word 'and' in between
methods of remittance by postal money order and of depositing in bank ac-
count, which must, in the context, be read as d_isjunctive. It is well settled that
G 'and' is capable of being read as 'or', if the context demands it to be so read.
The rule of homogenous construction also dictates the said 'and' in clause (c)
being read as 'or' failing which there will be an apparent conflict between
clauses (a) and (b) of sub-section (3) read with sub-section (4) and clause (c)
of sub-section (3) of Section 19A.
H
FAKIR MOHD. v. SITA RAM [R.C. LAHOTI, J.] 585
The word 'or' is normally disjunctive and the word 'and' is normally A
conjunctive. But at times they are read as vice-versa to give effect to the
manifest intent of the legislature as disclosed from the context. It is permissible
to read 'or' as 'and' and vice-versa if some other part of the same statute, or
the legislative intent clearly spelled out, require that to be done. (See Statutory
Interpretation by Justice G.P. Singh, 8th Edition, 2001, p.370). B

We are, therefore, clearly of the opinion that the tenant's right to deposit
the rent due in the Court under clause (c) arises if such deposit is preceded by
the tenant having adopted one of the two methods contemplated by clauses (a)
and (b) of sub-section (3) of Section 19A.
c
However still, the question which remains to be examined is whether the
tenant had at all asked for the particulars of bank account by giving a notice
in writing under clause (b) abovesaid. The tenant has exhibited a copy of notice
dated 12.2.1985 allegedly sent on his behalf by his advocate to the landlord.
This notice is alleged to have been despatched by post under a certificate of
D
posting. A postal receipt scribed on a piece of paper with postal stamps affixed
and bearing postal seal of date 12.2.1985 has been exhibited. The landlord has
on oath denied the receipt of any such notice.

Clause (b) of sub-section (3) of Section 19-A speaks of a notice in
writing but does not prescribe the manner of sending and serving the notice. E
If a notice is sent through registered post, a presumption as to service arises
under Section 30 of the Rajasthan General Clauses Act, 1955 read with Section
114 of the Evidence Act but the notice was not sent through registered post.
It is alleged to have been dispatched under a certificate of posting. The learned
counsel for the landlord submitted that such a notice brought on record by the F
tenant was not in fact sent and in any case not received by him. It was
obligatory on the part of the tenant to prove the service of notice in view of
the statement on oath given by the landlord denying receipt of any such notice.

The tenant has adduced no evidence to discharge such onus as did lay
on him. In as much as clause (b) abovesaid speaks of 'notice in writing' G
requiring the landlord 'to specify' his bank and account number to the tenant,
service of notice on the landlord is implied in the provision. The most common
and usual mode of sending notice is by post. When the notice in writing is to
be sent by post and the mode of service is not specified, Section 30 of the
General Clauses Act comes into play. The notice should be sent by properly H
586 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2001] SUPP. 5 S.C.R.
A addressing, pre-paying and posting the same by registered post which the
tenant has failed to do in the present case. The learned counsel for the tenant-
appellant submitted that in the absence of mode of service having been speci-
fied in the provision, the tenant was justified in sending the notice' in writing
under certificate of posting and presumption as to service needs to be drawn
B under illustration (t) of Section 114 of Evidence Act. Suffice it to observe that
the presumption arising under Section 114 of the Evidence Act is a permissive
presumption which the Court may or may not raise depending on the facts and
circumstances of a particular case. The learned counsel for the respondent has
drawn our attention to an observation made by this Court in Shiv Kumar & Ors.
v. State of Haryana & Ors., [1994] 4 SCC 445 (para 6), wherein the notices
t by the management to workmen were sent through certificate of posting which
fact was disputed. This court observed - "We have not felt safe to decide the
controversy at hand on the basis of the certificate produced before us, as it is
not difficult to get such postal seals at any point of time". In the background
of the dispute between the parties before us, we do not see any reason why the
D tenant should not have sent the notice to the landlord through registered post.
Moreover we find the address of the landlord on the copy of the notice written
as -'Sitaram, s/o Hariram by caste Goldsmith, r/o Sunaron-ka-bas, Jodhpur,'
while the certificate of posting reads the address as ·- 'Sitaram Sonar, S/o
Hariramji, Sunaron-ka-bas, Shahpura, Jodhpur.' It is not clear who handed over
E the notice to the post office. The tenant Fakir Mohammed _and his son Moham-
med Sharif are the only two witnesses examined by defendant. None speaks
of he himself having posted the notice. The notice purports to have been given
through an advocate who has not been examined. It is interesting to note that
a plea as to any notice in writing under Section 19-A(3)(b) having been sent
to the landlord, and that too under a certificate of posting, is not raised in the
F
written statement. The issues were settled on 17.12.1987. Additional issues
were framed on 16.11.1988. The defendant-tenant took time for adducing
evidence on 13.3.1989 and 6.4.1989. Belatedly on 9.5.1989, through an appli-
cation under Order 13 Rule 2 of the C.P.C., leave of the Court was sought for,
for placing on record the copy of notice and the certificate of posting, which
G was given. On the totality of the facts and circumstances of the case, we do
not think that a presumption under Section 114(1) of Evidence Act would be
safe to draw in favour of the tenant and to hold that the requisite notice was
sent by the tenant to the landlord.

H For the foregoing reasons we are of the opinion that the tenant has
FAKIR MOHD. v. SITA RAM [R.C. LAHOTI, J.] 587
defaulted in payment of rent and therefore a ground for his eviction under A
clause (a) of sub-section(!) of Section 13 of the Act was made out. The appeal
is dismissed with costs. The decree of eviction, as passed by the first appellate
court and maintained by the High Court, is sustained though for reasons at
variance therewith. However, the tenant is allowed time till 31.3.2002 for
vacating the premises subject to filing an usual undertaking on affidavit before B
the executing·court within a period of one month from today to clear all the
arrears of rent within one month, continuing to pay the rent falling due month
by month by the 15th day of that month and handing over vacant and peaceful
possession to the landlord on or before 31st March, 2002.

S.K.S. Appeal dismissed. C