Holding

The first date of hearing was 30 August 1977, and because the entire arrears were not deposited by that date, the tenant could not claim relief from eviction.

Summary

The appellant, a tenant, was sued for eviction and recovery of rent arrears dating back to 1968. An ex parte decree was set aside in 1977, after which the tenant deposited Rs.2,912 on 30 May 1977, claiming that date to be the first hearing. He later sought to amend his pleadings to include time‑barred arrears, which were deposited on 1 October 1977. The Additional District Judge held that, under s.20(4) of the U.P. Urban Buildings (Regulation of Letting, Rent and Eviction) Act, 1972, the first hearing date was 30 August 1977, and because the entire arrears were not deposited by that date, the tenant remained liable for eviction. The High Court dismissed the tenant’s writ petition, and the Supreme Court affirmed that decision, holding that the small‑cause nature of the suit fixed 30 August 1977 as the first hearing date and that strict compliance with the deposit requirement was mandatory.

Issues considered

What is the 'first date of hearing' for the purposes of s.20(4) of the U.P. Urban Buildings (Regulation of Letting, Rent and Eviction) Act, 1972 in a small cause suit?
Whether the tenant’s deposit of the time‑barred arrears after that date satisfies the statutory requirement to avoid eviction?

Legislation cited

Subjects

evictionarrears of rentsmall cause suitfirst hearing dateU.P. Urban Buildings Actlandlord‑tenantdeposit complianceprocedural law

Judgment

SUBHASH CHAND JAIN
A
v.
lST ADDITIONAL DISTRICT & SESSIONS JUDGE
SAHARANPUR AND OTHERS

FEBRUARY 24, 1989
B
t [R.S. PATHAK, CJ, M.M. DUTT AND M.H. KANIA, JJ.]
U.P. Urban Buildings (Regulation of Letting, Rent and Eviction)
r; Act, 1972-S.20(4)-Tenant's right to claim relief against eviction on
-~
~ payment of entire arrears of rent on or before the first date of hearing-
Requirement of strict compliance.
c
Respondent-owners' suit for recovery of arrears of rent was
j( decreed ex-parte when the appellant-tenant failed to appear in the suit;
however, on a subsequent application made by him the decree was set
aside on 24.3.1977. The appellant made a deposit of Rs.2,912 on
30.5.1977 stating that the said date was the first date of hearing in the
suit. The appellant, who had first stated that he was not obliged to D
deposit the entire arrears as they were barred by time, later on prayed
for amendment of his pleadings and sought to deposit the time-barred
arrears on 29.9.1977, but the deposit was actually made on J.10.1977.

• The Court allowed the prayer for amendment but the Additional Dis-
trict Judge held that the appellant was liable to be evicted from the
premises since he had failed to deposit the entire arrears on or befo~e E
30.8.1977 which was the date of first hearing in the suit in terms of
s. 20(4) of the U.P. Urban Buildings (Regulation of Letting, Rent and
Eviction) Act, 1972. The appellant's writ petition challenging the
aforesaid finding was dismissed by the High Court.
·+-' Dismissing the appeal,
i
,.
F

HELD: As the suit was in the nature of a small cause suit, and as
the Provincial Small Causes Courts Act did not contemplate the fixation
of any date for settlement of issues, it must be taken that 30.8.1977 was
the date of first hearing in the suit, and inasmuch as the entire amount
due as arrears of rent had not been deposited within time, the High G
Court was right in dismissing the Writ Petition. [839D]
__.,
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 1728
of 1989.

From the Judgment and Order dated 15.4.1982 of the Allahabad H
837
838 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1989] 1 S.C.R.

A High Court in Civil Misc. Writ Petition No. 6324 of 1980.

R.K. Garg, M.K.D. Namboodiri and S. Balakrishnan for the
Appellant.

S.N. Kaicker, Pradeep Kumar Jain for the Respondents.
B
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

PATHAK, CJ Special leave granted.

This tenant's appeal by special leave arises out of a suit for eject-
ment and recovery of arrears of rent and damages.
c
The suit was brought by the respondents who claimed that a shop
owned by them had been let to the appellant, that the appellant had
fallen in arrears of rent from 1 February, 1968 and had not paid the
arrears, notwithstanding a notice of demand dated 8 January, 1975
D served on the appellant. The suit was decreed ex parte by the Trial
Court and the decree was set aside by the first Appellate Court. In writ
Petition before the High Court, it was urged on behalf of the appellant
that the appellant had deposited the arrears of rent under sub-s. (4) of
s. 20 of the U.P. Urban Buildings (Regulation of Letting, Rent &
Eviction) Act, 1972, and that therefore the Court should have made an
E order relieving the appellant against his liability for eviction on the
ground of arrears of rent. The High Court noted that the suit was filed
on 12 February, 1975 and as the appellant did not appear on 4 April,
1975, the day fixed in the summons, the suit proceeded ex parte and
was decreed. The High Court also noticed that upon subsequent appli-
cation made by the appellant the ex parte decree was set aside on 24
F March, 1977, and on 30 May, 1977, the fresh date now fixed, the
appellant made a deposit of Rs.2,912 accompanied by an application
stating that the said date was the first date of hearing and he was
making a deposit of the entire arrears of rent. The appellant first
stated that he was not obliged to deposit the entire arrears of rent as
they were barred by time. However, the appellant prayed for amend-
G ment of his pleadings. On 29 September, 1977, the appellant sought to
deposit the time barred arrears also and got the tender passed for that
purpose. In pursuance of the tender the amount was deposited on 1
October, 1977. The amendment application was allowed, but when the
matter came before the learned First Additional District Judge, he
took the view that the appellant had failed to comply with the condi-
H lions of sub-s. (4) of s. 20 of the Act. He-held that 30 August, 1977 was
S.C. JAIN v. ADDL. DIST. JUDGE IPATIJAK, CJJ 839

the date of first hearing in the suit within the meaning of sub-s. (4) of A
s. 20. He recorded that the parties did not dispute that the time barred
arrears claimed by the respondents were also required to be deposited
under sub-s. (4) of s. 20. As the time barred arrears had been
deposited by the appellant on 1 October, 1977 only, the High Court
took the view that the entire arrears of rent had not been deposited on
or before the date of first hearing. The High Court declined to go into B
the further question whether the deposits made by the appellant on I
October, 1977 ought to relate back to 29 September, 1977. In the
result the High Court dismissed the Writ Petition.

,We have heard learned counsel for the parties and we see no
reason to take a different view from that adopted by the High Court. C
The High Court was plainly right in holding that 30 August, 1977 was
the date of first hearing in the suit. As the suit was in the nature of a
small cause suit, and as the Provincial Small Causes Courts Act did not
contemplate the fixation of any date for settlement of issues, it must be
taken that 30 August, 1977 was the date of first hearing in the suit, and
inasmuch as the entire amount due as arrears of rent had not been D
deposited within time, the High _Court was right in dismissing the writ
petition".

Accordingly the appeal is dismissed but there is no order as to
costs.
E
H.L.C. Appeal dismissed.