Holding

The transfer is deemed sub‑letting/assignment within the meaning of Section 14(1)(b) because written landlord consent was not obtained, regardless of its involuntary character.

Summary

The premises were originally leased to Cox & Kings (Agents) Ltd., a foreign company incorporated in the United Kingdom. After the Reserve Bank of India denied permission for the foreign company to continue its business under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973, the leasehold interest was assigned to an Indian company in which the foreign company held only 40% share. The landlord, Smt. Chander Malhotra, was not given written consent for this assignment, and an eviction petition was filed under Section 14(1)(b) of the Delhi Rent Control Act. The Rent Controller and the High Court held that the transfer amounted to sub‑letting/assignment without the landlord's consent and ordered eviction. On appeal, the Supreme Court examined whether the involuntary nature of the transfer exempted it from the provisions of Section 14(1)(b). The Court held that the statutory requirement of written landlord consent applies irrespective of the reason for the transfer, and the assignment is therefore a case of sub‑letting within the meaning of the Act. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed and the eviction order upheld.

Issues considered

Whether an involuntary transfer of leasehold interest from a foreign company to an Indian company, compelled by the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, constitutes 'sub‑letting' under Section 14(1)(b) of the Delhi Rent Control Act.

Legislation cited

Companies Act, 1956
Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958s. 14(1)(b)
Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973s. 28, s. 29, s. 47

Subjects

sub‑lettingassignmentleasehold transferDelhi Rent Control ActForeign Exchange Regulation Actforeign companylandlord consenteviction

Judgment

MIS COX AND KINGS LTD. AND ANR. A
v.
SMT. CHANDER MALHOTRA

DECEMBER 12, 1996

[K. RAMASWAMY, S.B. MAJMUDAR AND G.T. NANAVATI, JJ.] B

Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958: Section 14(l)(b).

, Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973: Sections 28, 29 & 47.

Companies Act, 1956:
c
Rent Control-Sub-letting-Involuntary transfer of leasehold
rights-Whether constitutes sub-letting-Premises demised to a foreign com-
pany-Permission to carry on business not granted to foreign company under
provisions of FERA-Thereafter Indian Company came to be incor- D
porate~Agreement between foreign company and Indian Companr-Assign-
ment of all rights and liabilities in favour of Indian Companr-Assignment

-
of leasehold interest in the demised premises to Indian Company-fndian
Company carrying on business in the tenanted premises-Eviction petition
filed by landlorq on the ground of sub-letting-Eviction ordered by Rent E
Controlle~rd/?r confirmed in first and second appeal-Appeal before
Supreme Court-Held, under FERA, there is no compulsion that the premises
demised to the foreign Company should be continued or given to Indian
Companr-Written consent of landlord is a pre-condition, as envisaged under
sub-section (l)(b) of Section 14 which was not obtaine~There was a clear
assignment between the Foreign Company and the Indian Company of the F
demised premises without any written consent of the respondent-
landlor~The respon~ent-landlord is not bound by such assignment, induc-
tion of the appellant-Company against her wishes-It is a case of "sub-letting"
within the meaning of Section 14(1)(b) of the Act-The courts below, there-
fore, have not committed any illegality-No interference is wa"anted. G
P.H. Rao v. S.P.N.K Jain & Anr., [1980] 3 SCR 444; Venkatarama Iyer
v. Renters Ltd., (1951) II MW 57 and General Radio &Appliances Co. Ltd..
v. MA. Khader (dead) by Lrs., [1986] 2 SCR 607, relied on.

Madras Bangalore Transport Co. (West) v. Inder Singh & Ors., [1986] H
1
2 SUPREME COURT REPORTS[1996) SUPP. 10 S.C.R.
A 3 sec 62, distinguished.
Krishna Das Nandy v. Bidhan Chandra Roy, AIR (1959) Cal. 181,
cited.

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 2702 of
B 1989.

From the Judgment and Order dated 27.7.88 of the Delhi High Court
in S.A.0. No. 360 of 1985.

R.F. Nariman, Kiran Bhardwaj and Vineet Kumar for the Appel-
C lants.

P.P. Rao and R.P. Sharma for the Respondent.

The following Order of the Court was delivered :

D This appeal by special leave arises from the judgment of the Delhi
High Court dated July 17, 1983 dismissing the Second Appeal No. 630/85
confirming the decree of eviction passed against the appellants under {
Section 14(1)(b) of the Delhi Rent Control Act.

E The admitted facts are that the premises in question was demised to
Cox & Kings (AGENTS) Limited, a company incorporated under the
United Kingdom Companies Act [for short, "Foreign Company"], tenant of
Smt. Jagdish Rani Sethi who subsequently sold the property to Smt.
Chander Malhotra by a registered conveyance. Mrs. Rani Sethi had filed
eviction petition on diverse grounds. Smt. Chander Malhotra, the respon-
F dent, after getting impleaded, amended the petition and also pleaded
sub-letting to the appellant, an Indian Company. The Rent Controller
found that premises had been sub-let by the Foreign Company and, there-
fore, ordered eviction. That was confirmed in appeal. As stated earlier, the
second appeal was also dismissed. The principle question that arises for
G consideration, on reference to this Bench, is : whether involuntary transfer
of the leasehold interest from Foreign Company to the Indian Company is
not sub-letting within the meaning of Section 14(1)(b) of the Act? The said
section reads as under :

"... that the tenant has, on or after the 9th day of June, 1952, sub-let,
H assigned or otherwise parted with the possession of the whole or
COX AND KINGS LTD. v. C. MALH01RA 3

any part of the premises without obtaining the consent in writing A
of the landlord".

The contention of Shri R.F. Nariman, learned senior counsel for the
appellants, is that after the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 (for
short the "FERA"] had come into force, by operation of Section 29 of the
B
Act, the Foreign Company was required to obtain, to carry on the business,
written permission of the Reserve Bank of India. Accordingly, it had
applied for permission but the Reserve Bank had refused permission to
continue the same business. As a consequence, the Indian Company was
floated in which Foreign Company, though sought to have 100% shares, on
refusal of the permission, had only 40% share in the business to which C
approval was given by the Reserve Bank of India. Consequently, the Indian
company has been carrying on the business in the same premises. Since the
transfer of the leasehold interest from the Foreign Company to the Indian
Company is by compulsion, it is an involuntary one and thus is not a case
of "sub-letting" within the meaning of Section 14(1)(b) of the Act. There- D
fore, the view taken by the courts below is not correct in law. We find it
difficult to give acceptance to the contention. It is true that under ~ection
29 of the FERA, without prejudice to the provisions of Section 28 and
Section 47 and notwithstanding anything contained in any other provision
-of that Act or the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956, a person residing
"°"'· outside India (whether a citizen of1ndia or not) or a person who is not a E
citizen of India but is resident in India, or a Company (other than a
Banking Company) which is not incorporated under any law in force in
India or in which the non-reside~t interest is more than 40% or any branch
of such Company shall not, except with the general or special permission
of the Reserve Bank oflndia, (a) carry on in India, or establish in India a F
branch office or other place of business for carrying on any activity of a
trading, commercial or industrial nature, other than an activity for the
carrying on of which permission of the Reserve Bank has been obtained

-- under Section 28.. .''; (b) every application made under clause (a) shall be
, in such form and contain such particulars as may be specified by the
Reserve Bank; and (c) where an application has been made under clause G
(a), the Reserve Bank may, after making such inquiry as it may think fit,
either allow the application subject to such conditions, if any, as the
Reserve Bank may think fit to impose or reject the application.

It is ncit in dispute that such an application came to be made and the H
4 SUPREME COURT REPOR TS[l996] SUPP.10 S.C.R.

A Reserve Bank had passed an order directing the Foreign Company to wind
up its business. Subsequently, an application was made for permission to
incorporate Indian Company with 100% share held by the Foreign Com-
pany which was refused. Thereafter, Indian Company came to be incor-
porated in which the Foreign Company claimed to have 40% share in the
B business. Thus, the Indian Company was incorporated under the Indian
Companies Act, 1956 and was doing business under FERA with the
permission of Reserve Bank. The question then is : whether the Foreign
Company sub-let the demised premises within the meaning of Section
14(1)(b) of the Act? It is seen that under FERA, there is no compulsion
that the premises demised to the Foreign Company should be continued
C or given to Indian Company. On the other hand, the conveyance executed
,between the Foreign Company and the Indian Company reads as under :

"An agreement was executed on July 4, 1980 between the English
Company and Indian Company. The English Company is termed
as Assignor and Indian Company has been termed as Assignee.
D
The last part of the preamble indicates that whereas the assignor
has agreed to assign and the assignee has agreed to take over for
consideration and upon .the terms and conditions hereinafter set
out the business carried on by the assignor in India hereinabove
recited as a going concern together with all the assets and liabilities
E of the said business as appearing in the Audited Balance Sheet of
the assignor relating thereto as on the 30th day of September, 1978.
Clause (1) specifically mentioned thac on and from the dale in-
cluding the transfer date the said business shall become and be
deemed to have been owned by and assigned to the Assignee, i.e.
Indian Company. Clause (2) envisages that assignment was
F
received for consideration. Clause 7(1)(b) indicates as regards the
leaseholds, subject to payment of the rent reserved and the obser-
vance of all the covenants and conditions contained in the Leases
or Agreements for Leases under which the same are held. Clause
7(ii) indicates that incidental to the assignment of the said business
G as a going concern, the Assignor shall, in so far as it is within its
power to do so, assign or cause to be assigned the monthly and
other tenancies of all rented premises of the Assignor in India''.-

Thus, it could be seen that under the consequence of agreement
H between the Foreign Company and the Indian Company, the Indian Com-.
COXANDKINGSLTD. v. C.MALHOlRA 5

pany became the assignee with all rights and liabilities and subject to A
observfuce of the terms and conditions of all the tenancy rights contained
in the leases or agreements for lease under which the same are being held
by the Foreign Company. It would, thus, be clear that it is a case of
assignment of the leasehold right, had from the respondent in favour of
Indian Company, subject to the observance of the leasehold covenants B
contained in the lease held by the Foreign Company. The question, there-
fore, is : whether it is a sub-letting or assignment? It is seen that sub-section
l(b) of Section 14, in clear terms envisages that the tenant shall not, after
June 9, 1952, sub-let, assign, or otherwise part with the possession of the
whole or any part of the premises, without obtaining the written consent
of the landlord. It is seen that though by operation of FERA the Foreign C
Company had wound up its business, it assigned, under the agreement, the
leasehold interest in the demised premises to the Indian Company which .
is carrying on the same business in the tenanted premises without obtaining
the written consent of the landlord.
D
The respondent-landlord is not bound by such assignment, induction
of the appellant-Company against her wishes. Her written consent is a
pre-condition, as envisaged under sub-section (l)(b) of Section 14 which
was not obtained. Therefore, it is a clear case of sub-letting. Even other-
wise, it would be an assignment, as admittedly agreed in the agreement
referred to hereinbefore between the Foreign Company and the Indian E
Company. In P.H. Rao v. S.P.N.K Jain & Anr., [1980] 3 SCR 444, the
landlord had executed a lease in respect of the demised premises in favour
of the Laxmi Bank on 1.4.1942; the Bank went into liquidation. The
liquidator sold leasehold right to the respondent and the Court confirmed
the same. An application for eviction came to be filed and it was contended F
that it being an involuntary transfer it was not a case of sub-letting under
Section 14(1)(b) of the Act. This Court had negatived the contention
holding thus :

"As regards point No. 3, the High Court relying on a decision of G
Calcutta High Court in Krishna Das Nandy v. Bidhan Chandra Roy,
AIR (1959) Cal. 181, has found that as the transfer in favour of
the respondent no. 1 by the Official Liquidator was confirmed by
the Court, the status of the tenant by respondent No. 1 was
acquired by operation of law and, therefore, the transfer was an
involuntary transfer and the provisions of Rent Control Act would H
6 SUPREME COURT REPORTS[1996] SUPP.10 S.C.R.

A not be attracted. After careful perusal of Calcutta case, in the first
place it appears that the section concerned has not been extracted
and we are not in a position to know what was the actual language
of the Section of the Bengal Act. Secondly, in our opinion, the
official liquidator had merely stepped into the shoes of LaJOni Bank
which was the original tenant and even if the official liquidator had
B transferred the tenancy interest to respondent No. 2 under the
orders of the Court, it was on behalf of the original tenant. It was
undoubtedly a voluntary sale which clearly fell within the mischief
of Section 14(1)(b) of the Delhi Rent Control Act. Assuming that
the sale by the official Liquidator was an involuntary sale, then it
c undoubtedly became an assignment as provided for by s.14(b) of
Delhi Rent Control Act. S.14(b) runs thus :-

"14(b)--that the tenant has, on or after the 9th day of June,
1952, sublet, assigned or otherwise parted with the possession
of the whole or any part of the premises without obtaining
D the consent in writing of the landlord."

The language of s.14(b) is wide enough not only to include any
sub-lease but even an assignment or any other mode by which
possession of the tenanted premises is parted. In view of the wide
E amplitude of s.14(b) we are clearly of the opinion that it does not
exclude even an involuntary sale. For these reasons, therefore, we
are unable to agree with the view taken by the High Court. The
appeal is accordingly allowed, the judgment and decree of the High
Court are set aside and the plaintiffs application under s.25 of the
Delhi Rent Control Act is dismissed.
F
The above ratio is clearly on the point in issue involved in the present
case. In Venkatarama Iyer v. Renters Ltd., (1951) II MLJ 57, K. Subba Rao,
J., as he then was, had to consider a similar question under the Madras
Buildings (Lease and Rent) Control Act. There was an assignment between
G the two companies and considering the effect thereof it was held that if a
company doing business in a particular premises taken on lease, transfers
its business as a going concern to another company and also the net assets
for consideration and thereafter the transferee company takes over the
business and carries on business in the premises let out to the former
H company, it cannot be said that there was no transfer of the right of the
COX AND KINGS LTD. v. C. MALH01RA 7

former company under the lease to the latter company. On such transfer, · A
the tenant is liable to be evicted as a sub-tenant. The above judgment is
clearly on the point in issue before us. In General Radio & Appliances Co.
Ltd. v. WA., Khader (dead) by Lrs., [1986] 2 SCR 607 at 620, a three-Judge
Bench had approved the above ratio. Two companies having been amal-
gamated, eviction against the amalgamated company came to be filed. On B
consideration of all the decisions referred to above hereinbefore, the
irresistible conclusion followed that there had been a transfer of the
tenancy interest of appellant No. 1 in respect of the premises in question
to the appellant No. 2, subsequently, renamed appellant No. 3, M/s. Na-
. tional Radio Electronics Co. Ltd. Accordingly, their eviction was upheld
under Section lO(ii)(a) of the Andhra Pradesh Buildings (Lease, Rent and C
Eviction) Control Act, 1960. The facts in Madras Bangalore Transpo11 Co.
(West) v. lnder Singh & Ors., (1986] 3 SCC 62, relied upon by Shri R.F.
Nariman, are clearly distinguishable. In that case, a partnership firm was
divided between the partners and two separate firms came to be formed
with a distinct area of operation and one of the companies was to retain D
possession of the tenanted premises. After 10 years, application for eviction
came to be filed on the ground of subletting of the premises. Considering
the con.stitution of the companies, its operation and the nature of the
incidence that flowed therefrom, this Court ~ad held that the limited
company and the partnership firm were two only on paper but were one
· for practical purposes. There was substantial identity between the limited E
company and the partnership firm. On the basis of those findings, it was
held that there was no sub-letting. The ratio has no application to the facts
in this case.

In view of the findings recorded above, viz., there was a clear
F
assignment between the Foreign Company and the Indian Company of the
demised premises without any written consent of the respondent-landlord,
it is a case of "sub-letting" within the meaning of Section 14(1)(b) of the
Act. The courts below, therefore, have not committed any illegality in
reaching those findings warranting interference.
G
The appeal is accordingly dismissed. No costs.

T.N.A. Appeal dismissed.