Holding

The notice of demand, when read in the ordinary sense and in conjunction with the earlier notice and the tenant’s acknowledgment, fulfilled the proviso to s.14(1)(a) of the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958, rendering the eviction order valid.

Summary

The landlords, Rakesh Kumar and Shri Shakti Kumar, leased two shops to Hindustan Everest Tool Ltd. under a lease requiring rent in advance. The tenant fell into arrears for February, March and April 1982, prompting the landlords to serve a reminder notice on 8 March 1982 and a termination notice on 19 April 1982 demanding payment and threatening eviction. The tenant acknowledged the arrears in a letter dated 1 June 1982. Under s.14(1)(a) of the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958, the Rent Controller ordered eviction, which was affirmed by the Rent Control Tribunal. The Delhi High Court set aside the order, holding that the notice of demand was not valid as required by the proviso to s.14(1)(a). The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, holding that the notice, read in the ordinary sense and together with the earlier notice and the tenant’s acknowledgment, satisfied the statutory requirement of a valid notice of demand. Consequently, the High Court’s decision was reversed, the eviction decree was stayed until 30 September 1988 subject to conditions, and costs were awarded.

Issues considered

The notice dated 19 April 1982, together with the earlier notice of 8 March 1982, satisfied the statutory requirement of a valid notice of demand under the proviso to s.14(1)(a) of the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958.
Whether the High Court erred in setting aside the eviction order on the ground of lack of a proper notice of demand.

Legislation cited

Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958s. 14(1)(a)
Transfer of Property Act, 1882s. 106

Subjects

evictionnotice of demandDelhi Rent Control Actlandlord-tenantarrears of rentinterpretation of noticecommon sense readingsection 14(1)(a)Transfer of Property Act

Judgment

A RAKESH KUMAR & SHRI SHAKTI KUMAR
v.
HINDUSTAN EVEREST TOOL LTD.

MARCH 7, 1988
B
[SABYASACHI MUKHARJI ANDS. RANGANATHAN, JJ.]
J..,
Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958: s. 14( J)(a)-Eviction-Notice of
demand by landlord for arrears of rent-Validity of-To be construed

c
as understood by common man.
~
Section 14(l)(a) of the Delhi Rent Control Act, i958 provides for
recovery of possession of the demised premises, where the tenant has ~\
failed to pay the arrears of rent recoverable from him within two
months of the date on which notice of demand had been served on him
in the manner provided ins. 106 ofthe Transfer of Property Act, i882.
D
Under the lease agreement the respondent-tenant was required to
pay rent in advance by the Sib ofeach calendar month. The appellant-
landlords by their notice dated 8th March, 1982 reminded the respon-
dent that the rent for the months of February and March, 1982 was dne
as per the lease agreement and requested for immediate payment. The
E
appellants again served a notice on the respondent on i91h April, i982
that it had not paid the rent for the months of February, March and
'r
April, i 982 for the two shops and it having committed violation of the
terms of the lease agreement they do not wish to keep it as their tenant
any longer and thereby terminated the tenancy requesting the tenant to
handover peaceful vacant possession of the premises by 31st May, 1982.
F The respondent by their letter dated Isl June, 1982 acknowledged the
arrears of rent as on that date. >-
On a petition filed by the appellants under s. 14(1)(a) of the Act,
the Rent Controller passed an order of eviction, which was upheld by
the Rent Control Tribunal. The High Court, however, set aside that
order on the ground that there was no proper notice of demand to pay
.G
arrears of rent in terms of proviso to s. l4(l)(a) of the Act.

Allowing the appeals,
)-

HELD: l. The High Court was in error in setting aside the judg-
H ment of the Rent Control Tribunal. [96F]

88
RAKESH KUMAR v. HINDUSTAN EVEREST TOOL 89

2. i For obtaining recovery of possession under the Act there
A
must be relationship of landlord and tenant between the parties, the
tenant must have been in arrears of legally recoverable rent on the date
of the notice of demand, and a notice of demand had been served upon
the tenant in the manner provided under s. 106 of the Transfer of
Property Act, but the tenant neither pays nor tenders the rent within
two months of the notice of demand. [93E-F] B

2. 2 The notice of the landlord stating therein about the arrears of
must be read ln common sense p0int of view bearing in mind how
. /i
~- ··r-enf
such notices are understood by ordinary people. [93G I

In the instant case if the two notices dated 8th March, i982 and
i9th April, 1982 are read alongwith the letter dated isl June, i982 it is
c
clear that the respondent was in arrears of rent for the months
mentioned therein and there was a demand to pay rent. There were
intimations that in default of payment of rent an eviction petition as
consequence thereof would follow. That. is how the appellants under-
stood the notices. If that was so, there was clear notice of demand and D
the relevant requirement of the'.proviso to s. i4(i)(a) of the Act was
fulfilled. T93G; H; 94G]

Shri Ram Sarup v. Shri Sultan Singh etc., [!977] All India Rent
Control Journal, Vol. II 522, approved.
E
Mangoo Singh v. The Election Tribunal, Bareilly & Orii., [i958]
- SCR 4i8; Chimanlalv. Mishrilal, [i985] i SCC 14 and Mangat Ram &
Anr. v. Sardar Meharban Singh, A.I.R. i987 SC 1656, distinguished.

(The decree for eviction not to be executed till 30th September,
i 988 provided the respondent files the usual undertaking in this Court F
within four weeks.) [96Gf-

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal Nos. 933-
934of1988 ·

From the Judgment and Order dated 8.10.1985 of the Delhi High G
~ Court in S.A.0. No. 142 of 1985 ..

Soli. J. Sorabji, S. Kumar and Mrs. Rani Chhabra for the
Appellants.

Shankar Ghosh, Rajiv ·Endlow, Sandeep Narain and Praveen H
Kumar for the Respondent.
90 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1988] 3 S.C.R.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
A
SABYASACHI MUKHARJI, J. Special leave granted in both the
matters and the appeals are disposed of hereunder.

The facts in both these cases are identical. These appeals are
B directed against the judgment and orders of the High Court of Delhi,
dated· the. 8th October, 1985 setting aside the order of eviction
affirmed by the Rent Control Tribunal. In order to appreciate the
controversy it may be mentioned here briefly that the appellant is the
owner of a flat in Dohil Chambers, 46 Nehru Place, New Delhi. It is
the case of the appellant that the appellant had duly appointed Shri
Hardev Dohil as the general attorney for and on his behalf to do all the
c acts and deeds including renting out the premises in question. Shri H.
Dohil entered into an agreement of lease with respondent No. 1
Hindustan Everest Tools Ltd., to take the premises situated at Nehru
Place. Clause 21 of the said agreement amongst others specifically
provided that the respondent herein would not be in arrears of rent
D and there was a specific obligation imposed upon the respondent by
virtue of the agreement between the parties to regularly pay the rent of
the premises without default and without notice from the appellant.
The respondent started defaulting, according to the appellant, not
only towards the arrears of rent but also towards payment of mainte-
nance and other charges. It is the case of the appellant that the respon-
E dent was occupying a number of flats in the said building and the
appellant further alleges that on one pretext or the other, respondent
had been avoiding to pay their admitted liability under the terms of the
agreement. It is alleged by the appellants that the respondent was
using a number of air-conditioners which had put the builder in great
difficulties and it had come to a situation where the electric supply to
F the building was disconnected. It was under the orders of the High
Court of Delhi and trial courts that the electricity could be got restored
and the respondent was directed to make certain payments. It is
alleged by the appellants that the respondent had not made payment of
rent despite various notices issued.

G The appellant had filed a petition under Section 14(1)(a) and (j)
of the Delhi Rent Control Act, hereinafter called as 'the Act'. The
respondent filed a written statement to the said petition and took up
the stand that rent was attached by M.C.D. and had also raised certain
frivolous objections. It is tbe case of the appellant that the appellant
had verified from the Corporation and found that the respondent had
H ·bee!) wrongfully with~holding the payment of the rent of the appel-
RAKESH KUMAR v. HINDUSTAN EVEREST TOOL [MUKHARJI, J.] 91
)"
I
!ant. Tbe learned Additional Rent Controller during the pendency of A
main petit'ion under Section lS(c) of the Act, had directed the respon-
dent to deposit the arrears within one month from the date of order
and to continue depositing the monthly rent by 15th of each .succeeding
month. The respondent did not deposit the arrears of rent and filed an
appeal before the Rent Control Tribunal. The Rent Control Tribunal
' I dismissed the appeal and even after passing of the said Order, did not
/-..., deposit the arrears of rent and filed an appeal before the High Court of
B

Delhi. The High Court dismissed the said appeal. In the meantime, it
may be mentioned that the petition for eviction under Section 14(l)(a)
of the Act proceeded and the Rent Controller duly passed an order of
eviction on that which was upheld by the Rent Control Tribunal. In appeal
the High Court has set aside the said order on the ground that there
was no proper notice of demand to pay arrears of. rent in terms of
c
proviso to Section 14(1)(a) of the Act. It is from this order of the High
Court these matters have come to this Court. But, in order to complete
the narration of events it must be mentioned that against the striking
off of the defence of the respondent in default of payment of arrears of
rent which was duly confirmed by the High Court the appellant had D
come up in Special Leave Petition to this Court being SLP (C) No .
. 8120/84 and. this Court dismissed the Special Leave Petition on
18.11.1984. It is important in the background of the facts of this case to
emphasise that so far as striking off the defence is concerned by the
order of dismissal that order stands confirmed i.e., the striking off the
defence was validly done because of the failure to pay the arrears of E
rent. This is an important aspect of the matter.

- In the special leave petition preferred by the appellant, it had
specifically raised the question of legality and validity of a notice dated
19th April, 1982 issued by the appellant. While the receipt of the said
notice was duly admitted, ground (C) of that special leave petition F
read as follows:

"C. Because no valid notice demanding arrears of rent as
required under Section 14(I)(a) of the D.R.C. Act had
been received by the petitioner (Annexure P-3) the ques-
tion of issuing any order under Section 15( 1) of the said Act G
did not arise and the orders issued by the lower court, as
such, were ultra vires."

It appears from these words that the precise point that there was
no valid notice demanding the arrears in view of the fact~ and circum-
stances of these cases, is concluded by the dismissal of the Special H
92 SUPREME COURT REPORTS 11988] 3 S.C.R.

Leave Petition as mentioned hereinbefore.
A
The relevant provisions of Section 14(1)(a) of the Act are as
follow:

"14.(1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary con-
B tained in any other law or contract, no order or decree for
the recovery of possession of any premises shall be made by
any court or Controller in favour of the landlord against a .
tenant: r-
\

Provided that the Controller may, on an application "1 .
made to him in the prescribed manner, make an order for
c the recovery of possession of the premises on one or more --',,
of the following grounds only, namely: '

(a) that the tenant has neither paid nor tendered the whole
of the arrears of the rent legally recoverable from him
D within two months of the date on which a notice of demand
for the arrears of rent has been served on him by the land-
lord in the manner provided in section 106 of the Transfer
of Property Act, 1882;"
\,__
The notice upon which the eviction was sought for was the notice
E dated the 19th April, 1982. The relevant portion of the said notice read
as follows:

"That for both these shops, FF-I and FF-2, you have not
paid the rent for the mortths of February, March and April,
1982. Therefore, a sum of Rs. 7 ,800 is due from you as rent
F for the said shop No. FF-2 and a sum of Rs.12,214.50 is
due as rent in respect of shop No. FF-I. However I have
the instruction to say that you have demolished the internal
wall of the premises under your tenancy without the con-
sent of my client in writing or otherwise and have there-
fore, committed the violation of the terms of the lease and
G the agreement executed between my client and M/s. H.
Dohil Construction Co. Pvt. Ltd., Dohil Chambers, Nehru
Place, New Delhi, the promoters of the buildings.

5. That in view of the above facts and circumstances
my clients do not wish to keep you a tenant in its premises
H any longer .and they clearly show their intention by means
RAKESH KUMAR v. HINDUSTAN EVEREST TOOL [MUKHARJI, J.[ 93

of this notice to terminate your tenancy which is hereby A
terminated by means of this notice. You are no longer ten-
ant of my client. You are requested to hand over the peace-
ful vacant possession of the two shops i.e., FF-1 and FF-2,
Dohil Chambers, 46-Nehru Place, New Delhi, under your
tenancy/occupation on 31st May, 1982. You are also re-
quested to place the premises under your tenancy in the B
same condition as they were at the time when the posses-
sion was given to you.

Further my client reserves its right to claim damages
for causing damage, to the property of my client."

In reply to the aforesaid notice the respondent wrote a letter
c
dated 1st June, 1982 wherein the respondent stated inter alia as
follows:

"Without prejudice to the above, we have to state that a
sum of Rs.10,400 and a sum of Rs.16,286 is due from us to D
Sarvashri Shakti Kumar and Rakesh Kumar as on date in
respect of rent of Flat Nos. F-1 and F-2 at Dohil Cham-
bers, 46-Nehru Place, New Delhi, and we are arranging to
send the rent directly to them."
.-1.,
In view of the statutory provision which has been set out before it E
appears that for obtaining recovery of possession under the Act there
must be relationship of landlord and tenant between the parties, and
that the tenant must have been in arrears of legally recoverable rent on
the date of the notice of demand, and that a notice of demand had
been served upon the tenant in the manner provided under section 106
of the Transfer of Property Act, but the tenant neither pays nor F
tenders the rent within two months from the service of demand.

On reading the notice along with the letter dated 1st June, 1982 it
appears that the respondent was in arrears of rent for the months
mentioned hereinbefore and was intimated that in default of payment
of rent the eviction would follow in accordance with law. This is the G
proper way of reading the notice and in our view the appropriate
logical way in which notices of such type should be read. These notices
must be read in common sense point of view bearing in mind how such
notices are understood by ordinary people. That is how the appellant,
it appears from the reply and the background of the previous letter to
be mentioned hereinafter understood the notic.e. H
94 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [19881 3 S.C.R.

A More or less, a similar notice was considered by the Delhi High '{
Court in Shri Ram Sarup v. Shri Sultan Singh etc., (1977) All India
Rent Control Journal, Vol. II 552 where Mr. Justice V.S. Deshpande,
as the learned Chief Justice then was, held that the notice of the
landlord stating therein about the arrears of rent and threatening to
file a petition for eviction against the tenant was sufficient and the
B learned Judge held that the notice of demand could be expressed or
implied and the conduct of the landlord showed that the demand was A,
implied. We are in respectful agreement with the approach to such
type of notices taken by the High Court in that case. '

It may be mentioned in these cases that there was another notice
prior thereto dated the 8th March, 1982 wherein it was clearly stated as
-j~
c follows:

"This is to bring to your attention that you are again behind
with the payment of your monthly rent of FF-1 & FF-2
premises occupied by you on the first floor at Dohil Cham-
D bers, 46--Nehru Place, New Delhi-110 019. As per the lease
agreement with you, you are to pay your rent in advance by
the 5th of each calendar month. Rent for February was due
and you kept on delaying this payment on one pretence or
another. Finally, you agreed about a fortnight age that you
will pay the rent for February and March, 1982 by 5th
E March, 1982. You still have not paid.

You are, therefore, requested to please pay your rent
arrears immediately and in future to make your payment
promptly and regularly as per the lease agreement."

F If these two notices are read together, in our opinion, as it must j
._\be, it is clear that the respondent was in arrears for payment of rent
~nd there was a demand to pay rent. There were intimations that in
default of payment of rent an eviction petition as consequence thereof
wduld follow. If that was so in our opinion, the relevant requirement
of the proviso to section 14(l)(a) of the Act was fulfilled in this case.
G
Dr. Shanker Ghosh, Counsel for the respondent had contended
before us that the notice dated the 8th March, 1982 as referred to )..
hereinbefore, was not a notice upon which the eviction order was
passed. That is true. He has further submitted that the notice was not
proper inasmuch as notice regarding rent for the month of February
H could not.,be issued on 8th March, 1982. It may be so. We are not
RAKESH KUMAR v. HINDUSTAN EVEREST TOOL [MUKHARJI, J.] 95

'r concerned with the facts of this case whether the notice was legal but
how the parties have understood. There is clear notice of demand as it
A
appears from the terms set out hereinabove. We have been shown the
chart at Page No. 77 of the present records which indicate how belated
attempts were made to pay certain arrears.

Dr. Shanker Ghosh, howevei, placed strong reliance on the B
}~ three decisions of this Court and contended that the notice in this
question was not valid and the High Court was, therefore, right in
dismissing the eviction petition while setting aside the order of eviction
-~- affirmed by the Rent Control Tribunal.

The first decision to which our attention was drawn is Mangoo
c
~- Singh v. The Election Tribunal, Bareilly & Ors., [1958] SCR 418. That
decision, however, was not on the Rent Act but was a decision on an
election dispute. The appellant therein was elected by the Municipal .
' Board under the U.P. Municipalities Act, 1916. He was in arrears in
the payment of Municipal Tax in excess of one year's demand to which
section 166 of the Act applied, at the time of filing of nomination, but D
made the payment before the date of the poll. Under section 13D,
clause (g) of the Act "a person shall be disqualified for being chosen
as, and for being, a member of a Board if he is in arrears in the
payment of Municipal tax or other dues in excess of one year's demand
- ....' to which Section 166 applies, provided that the disqualification shall
cease as soon as the arrears are paid." On an election petition filed by E
a defeaied candidate, the election was set aside by the Election Tri-
bunal on the ground that the appellant was not entitled to the benefit of
the proviso to s. 13-D, CL (g) of the Act. It was contended for the
appellant that the relevant date for the operation of the disqualifica-
tion was the date of the poll and that in any case, he did not come
-~ within the mischief of the disqualification clause in that section, as a F.
bill for payment of the tax was not presented to him, nor a notice of
demand served on him under section 168. It was held so far as relevant
for the present purpose that the word "demand" in S. 13-D, Cl. (g) of
the Act meant "claim" or "due" and only referred to the amount of
arrears or dues on which the disqualification depended did not attract
the operation of Section 168 of the Act. G
''
~- In the facts of that case this Court observed at page 427 of the
report that the word 'demand' in that context and in the collocation of
the words in which it had been used, could only mean 'in excess of one
year's municipal tax or other dues'. The Court referred to several
meanings of the_ word 'demand' in standard English dicti_onaries and H
96 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [19881 3 S.C.R.

A law lexicons. When the context makes the meaning of a word quite
clear, it becomes unnecessary to search for and select a particular
meaning out of the diverse meanings a word is capable of, according to
lexicographers. It was sufficient for the Court to state that even in
standard dictionaries and law lexicons, it was well recognised that the
word 'demand' might mean simply a 'claim' or 'due' without importing
B any further meaning of calling upon the person liable to pay the claim
or due. The said observations are against the appellant, in the light of
the actual demand mentioned in the letters as aforesaid.

The next decision to which reference was made is Chimanlal v.
Mishrilal, I 198511 sec 14, wherein it was found by this Court that the
C notice of demand did not relate to the premises in question. In the
background of the facts of that case the said decision cannot also be of
much assistance to the appellant and the observations made therein
must be understood in that background. This Court at page 1~ of the
report reiterated in the background of the relevant statutory provision
with which the Court was concerned, that there must be notice
D demanding rent and the arrears must be legally recoverable. In the
light we have read the notice in these cases the two ingredients have
been fulfilled.

The Jast decision upon which reliance was placed is Mangat Ram
& Anr. v. Sardar Meharban Singh, A.LR. 1987 SC 1656-1987 4 SCC >--
E 319 where the facts were entirely different. Indeed the Court recorded
that the tenant had to pay more rent than what was due. The Court,
however, recorded that there was no prior notice of demand. But the
notice in this case was differently worded.

1n the context and facts of this case we are of the opinion that the ··~
F High Court was in error in setting aside the judgment of the Rent I
Control Tribunal. In the premises these appeals are allowed and the
judgment and orders of the High Court are set aside. The parties,
however, will pay and bear their respective costs.

Since, however, the respondent is in possession of the premises
G for sometime, in the interests of justice we direct that the decree for
eviction will not be executed till 30th Septeml:/er, 1988 provided the
respondent files the usual undertaking in this Court within four weeks
from today to the following effect:

1. That the respondent will hand-{)ver vacant and peaceful
H possession of the suit premises to the appellant on or before 30th
September, 1988.
RAKESH KUMAR v. HINDUSTAN EVEREST TOOL [MUKHARJI, J.[ 97

2. That the respondent will pay to the appellants arrears of rent, A
if any, within one month from today.

3. That the respondent will pay to the appellant future compen-
sation for use and occupation of the suit premises, month by
month before 10th of every month.
B
f- 4. That the respondent will not induct any other person in the
suit premises.

We further direct that in default of compliance with any one or
more of these conditions or if the undertaking is not filed as required
within the stipulated time, the decree shall become executable c
forthwith.

P.S.S. Appeals allowed.

I
. ·"""