HARI DASS SHARMAversusVIKAS SOOD & ORS.

                    [2013) 5 S.C.R. 1029


                   HARi DASS SHARMA                              A
                              v.
                    VIKAS SOOD & ORS.
              (Civil Appeal No. 4127 of 2013)
                      APRIL 29, 2013
                                                                 B
    [A.K. PATNAIK AND GYAN SUDHA MISRA, JJ.]

      Rent Control - H.P. Urban Rent Control Act, 1987 -
s.14(3)(c) & 14(4)- Eviction order passed by Rent Controller
- On ground that appellant-landlord bona fide required the C
tenanted building for purposes of addition and alteration of
the building or re-building - Eviction order maintained by High
Court - But direction passed by High Court that only on the
valid revised/renewed building plan being sanctioned by the
competent authority, such eviction order shall be available for D
execution and thereafter the executing court· shall allow
reasonable time to the respondents-tenants for vacating the
property and delivering possession to appellant-landlord -
Propriety - Held: Once High Court maintained the order of
eviction, the tenants were obliged to give vacant possession E
 of the building to the landlord and could only ask for
reasonable time to deliver vacant possession to the landlord
- s.14(3)(c) does not require that building plans should be
sanctioned by the local authorities as a condition precedent
 to the entitlement of the landlord for e'(iction of the tenant - F
 Direction of the High Court that the order of eviction could
 only be executed on the revised plan of the building being
approved clearly contrary to s.14(4) and the proviso thereto
- Time granted to respondents to vacate the building within
3 months - Respondents can apply for re-entry into the
building in accordance with the proviso to clause (c) of s. 14(3) G
of the Act introduced by the Himacha/ Pradesh Urban Rent
Control (Amendment) Act, 2009.

    The appellant-landlord filed applications under
                            1~9                                  H
    1030   SUPREME COURT REPORTS              [2013) 5 S.C.R.


A Section 14 of the H.P. Urban Rent Control Act, 1987 for
  eviction of respondents-tenants on grounds that he bona
  fide required the tenanted building for purposes of
  addition and alteration of the building or re-building. The
  Rent Controller allowed the applications. The order of
B Controller was upheld by the Appellate Authority.

      The respondents filed Revision petitions before the
  High Court which maintained the orders of eviction but
  directed that only on the valid revised/renewed building
  plan being sanctioned by the competent authority, the
C order of eviction shall be available for execution. The High
  Court further directed that the valid revised/renewed
  sanctioned or approved building plan shall be produced
  before the executing court whereupon the executing
  court shall allow reasonable time to the respondents-
D tenants for vacating the property and delivering
  possession to the appellant-landlord. The directions
  passed by the High Court were challenged in the instant
  appeals.

E      Allowing the appeals, the Court

        HELD: 1.1. A reading of clause (c) of sub-section (3)
   of Section 14 of the H.P. Urban Rent Control Act, 1987
   would show that a landlord may apply to the Controller
 · for an order directing the temmt to put the landlord in
F possession in case of any bullding if it is required bona
   fide by him for the purpose of building or rebuilding or
   making thereto any substantial additions or alterations
   and that such building or rebuilding or addition or
   alteration cannot be carried out without the building
G being vacated. Section 14(3)(c) does not require that the
   building plans should have been duly sanctioned by the
   local authorities as a condition precedent to the
   entitlement of the landlord for eviction of the tenant. The
   availability of building plans duly sanctioned by the local
H authorities is not an ingredient of Section 14(3)(c) of the
   HARi DASS SHARMA v. VIKAS SOOD & ORS.                1031

Act and, therefore, could not be a condition precedent to       A
the entitlement of the landlord for eviction. of the te_nant,
but depending on the facts and circumstances of each
case, the Court may look into the availability of building
plans duly sanctioned by the local authorities for the
purpose of determining the bonafides of the landlord.           B
[Para 8) [1037-G-H; 1038-A-B, F-G]
     1.2. Once the High Court maintained the order of
eviction passed by the Controller under Section 14(4) of
the Act, the tenants were obliged to give vacant
possession of the building to the landlord and could only C
ask for reasonable time to deliver vacant possession of
the building to the landlord and hence the direction of the
High Court that the order of eviction could only be
executed on the revised plan of the building being
approved was clearly contrary to the provisions of D
Section 14(4) of the Act and the proviso thereto. The
directions in the impugned judgment of the High Court
are set aside, but time granted to the respondents to
vacate the building within three· months. It will be open
for the respondents to apply for re-entry into the building E
in accordance with the proviso to clause (c) of Section
14(3) of the Act introduced by the Himachal Pradesh
Urban Rent Control (Amendment) Act, 2009. [Paras 11, 12)
[1041-D-G]
                                                            F
     Harrington House School v. S.M. lspahani & Anr. (2002)
5 SCC 229: 2002 (3) SCR 929 - distinguished.
    Jagat Pal Dhawan v. Kahan Singh (dead) by L.Rs. & Ors.
(2003) 1 SCC 191: 2002 (4) Suppl. SCR 301 - relied on"..
                                                                G
     Shri Balaganesan Metals v. M. N. Shanm14gham Chett}'
& Ors. (1987) 2 SCC 707: 1987 (2) SCR 1173; J. Jerrnons
v. Aliammal & Ors. (1999) 7 SCC 382: 1999 (1) Suppl. SCR
467 - cited.
                                                                H
     1032    SUPREME COURTREPORTS                   [2013) 5 S.C.R.


A                         Case Law Reference:
         2002 (3) SCR 929             distinguished      Para 4, 5,
                                                         6,11
         1987 (2) SCR 1173            cited              Para 5
B
         1999 (1) Suppl. SCR 467 cited                   Para 5, 8
         2002 (4) Suppl. SCR 301 relied on               Para 6
      CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No.
C 4127 of 2013.

         From the Judgment & Order dated 02.09.2011 of the High
     Court of H.P. at Shimla m CR No. 179 of 2008.
                                    WITH
D C.A. Nos. 4128 and 4129 of 2013.

         Nidhesh Gupta, Rishi Malhotra for the Appellant.

      Dhruv Mehta, Seema S., Manik Karanjawala, Akhil
E Sachar, Saurabh Seth (for Karanjawala & Co.) for the
  Respondents.

         The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

         A.K. PATNAIK, J. 1. Leave granted.
F.
         2. These are appeals against the common order dated
     02.09.2011 of the· High Court of Himachal Pradesh in Civil
     Revision Nos.179, 180 and 181 of 2008.

        3. The facts very briefly are that the appellant let out shops
G in premises No.5 Cart Road, Shimla (for short "the buildinsn
  to the respondents. The appellant. filed applications under
  Section 14 of the H.P. Urban Rent Control Act, 1987 (for short
  •the Act") before the Rent Controller, Shimla, for eviction of the
  respondents from the building on grounds inter alia that he bona
H fide required the building for purposes of addition and alteration
   HARi DASS SHARMA v. VIKAS SOOD & ORS.                     1033
              [A.K. PATNAIK, J.]
of the building or rebuilding. The respondents filed their replies    A
before the Rent Controller denying that the appellant required
the building for additions and alterations or rebuilding. The Rent
Controller framed an issue as to whether the building was
required bona fide by the appellant for rebuilding or
reconstruction. The appellant examined an official of the             B
Municipal Corporation, Shimla, in support of his case that a plan
for rebuilding/ reconstruction had been sanctioned and also a
Civil Engineer in support of his case that the building was in
dilapidated condition and required to be reconstructed. The
Rent Controller after considering the oral and documentary            c
evidence on record held that though the sanction plan of the
building was not a requirement of the Act, it is a circumstance
to establish the bonafide of the appellant to seek eviction for
the purpose of rebuilding or reconstruction and also held that
the building was old and the appellant was in the occupation          D
 of second floor of the building and for rebuilding or
 reconstruction, the respondents have to vacate the building and
 accordingly allowed the applications of the appellant for eviction
 of the respondents from the building. The respondents filed
appeals before the Appellate Authority, Shimla against the order
 of eviction but the Appellate Authority dismissed the appeals.       E

     4. The respondents then filed the Civil Revisions before
the High Court and by the impugned common order maintained
the orders of eviction but relying on the decision of this Court
 in Harrington House School v. S.M. /spahani & Anr. ((2002)           F
5 sec 229] directed that only on the valid revised/renewed
building plan being sanctioned by the competent authority, the
order of eviction shall be available for execution. The High Court
further directed in the impugned order that the valid· revised/
renewed sanctioned or approved building plan shall be                 G
produced before the executing court whereupon the executing
court shall allow a reasonable time to the tenants for vacating
the property and delivering possession to the landlord and till
then the tenant shall remain liable to pay charges for use and
occupation of the premises at the rate at which they were being       H
    1034     SUPREME COURT REPORTS                 [2013] 5 S.C.R.


A   paid earlier. Aggrieved, the appellant has filed these appeals.
         5. Mr. Nidesh Gupta, learned counsel appearing for the
    appellant, submitted that Section 14(4) of the Act provides that
    if the Controller is satisfied that the claim of the landlord is
B   bonafide, he shall make an order directing the tenant to put the
    landlord in possession of the building on such date as may be
    specified by the Controller and the proviso to Section 14(4) of
    the Act says that the Controller may give the tenant a
    reasonable time for putting the landlord in possession of the
    building and may extend such time not exceeding three months
C   in the aggregate. He submitted that Section 14(4) of the Act
    thus makes it clear that the order of eviction once passed by
    the Controller will have to be executed and that the direction of
    the High Court in the impugned order that the order of eviction
    will not be executed till such time as the building plan is
D   sanctioned for rebuilding or reconstruction of the tenanted
    building is contrary to the bare provision in Section 14(4) of the
    Act. He submitted that in Harrington House School v. S.M.
    lspahani & Anr. (supra), on which the High Court has relied on
    in the impugned judgment, this Court decided the dispute
E   between the landlord and the tenant under the provisions of the
    Tamil Nadu Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1960 and
    it had not considered the effect of the proviso to Section 14(4)
    of the Act whereunder the Controller had the power to grant in
    the aggregate three months time to put the landlord in
F   possession of the tenanted premises. He cited the decision of
    this Court in Shri Balaganesan Metals v. M.N. Shanmugham
    Chetty & Ors. [1987) 2 SCC 707], wherein this Court, while
    considering the proviso to Section 10(3)(c) of the Tamil Nadu
    Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1960, similar to the
G   proviso to Section 14(4) of the Act, held that the proviso
    empowers the Controller to grant adequate time to the tenant
     upto a maximum of three months to vacate the building and
    secure accommodation elsewhere. He also relied on the
    decision of this Court in J. Jennons v. Aliammal & Ors. [(1999)
H   7 SCC 382] in which it has been similarly held that a tenant is
   HARi DASS SHARMA v. VIKAS SOOD & ORS.                      1035
              [A.K. PATNAIK, J.]
entitled under Section 10(3)(c) of the Tamil Nadu Buildings            A
(lease and Rent Control) Act, 1960 to be granted reasonable
time for putting the landlord in possession of the building, which
may be extended from time to time upto the maximum period
of three months.
       6. In reply, Mr. Dhruv Mehta, learned counsel appearing for     B
the respondents, submitted that the provisions of the Tamil Nadu
Buildings {lease and Rent Control) Act, 1960 as well as the
provisions of the H.P. Urban Rent Control Act, 1987 ("the Act")
are analogous and, therefore, the decision of this Court in
Harrington House School v. S.M. lspahani & Anr. (supra) will           C
apply to a case arising under the Act and the High Court rightly
 relied on the decision in Ha"ington House School v. S.M.
 lspahani & Anr. (supra) in which this Court directed that the
 order of eviction will not be executed until the plan for the
 building was sanctioned. He further submitted that in any case        D
 under the proviso to Section 14(4) of the Act the Controller has
 power to give to the tenant a 'reasonable time' for putting the
 landlord in possession of the building and it is only on expiry
 of such reasonable time that the Controller may extend the time
 not exceeding three months in any case. He submitted that the         E
 power of the Controller to grant reasonable time to the tenant
 for putting the landlord in possession of the building is different
 from the power of the Controller to extend such time not
 exceeding three months. He submitted that the expression
 'reasonable time' to be given to the tenant for putting the
                                                                       F
·landlord in possession of the building will depend upon the facts
 of each case and in the facts of the present case, the High
 Court has granted time upto the time of sanction of the plan
 for rebuilding or reconstruction of the building. In this context,
 he submitted that the sanctioned plan for reconstruction of the
 building has lapsed and as the building regulations for areas         G
 within the city limits of Shimla have undergone drastic changes,
 it is not permissible for the appellant to reconstruct the building
 as per the sanction originally granted. He submitted that in
 Jagat Pal Dhawan v. Kahan Singh (dead) by L.Rs. & Ors.
 [(2003) 1 SCC 191] this Court, while interpreting clause (c) of       H
    1036      SUPREME COURT REPORTS                [2013) 5 S.C.R.


A sub-section (3) of Section 14 of the Act, has observed that while
  adjudicating an eviction petition on the ground that the building
  is bona fide required by the landlord for reconstruction, the
  Court may look into the condition of building, availability of
  necessary funds and whether building plans have been
B sanctioned by the local authority in order to assess the bona
  fide of the landlord, even if the Act does not require these
  aspects to be considered. He submitted that, therefore, unless
  the appellant produces the revised sanctioned plan before the
  executing court, the order of eviction cannot be executed as
c rightly directed by the High Court and this is not a case for
  interference with the impugned order of the High Court. He
  finally submitted that by the Himachal Pradesh Urban Rent
  Control (Amendment) Act, 2009 (for short 'the Amendment Act,
  2009') a new proviso has been added in clause (c) of 'Section
  14(3) stating that the tenant evicted under clause (c) of Section
0
  14(3) of the Act shall have the right to re-enter on new terms of
  tenancy, on the basis of mutual agreement between the landlord
  and the tenant, to the premises in the rebuilt building equivalent
  in area to the original premises for which he was a tenant. He
  submitted that since the eviction orders passed by the
E Controller in this case are under Section 14(3)(c) of the Act,
  the respondents are entitled to re-entry as per this proviso
  inserted by the Amendment Act, 2009.                     "
         7. Before considering the submissions of the learned
F   counsel for the parties, we may have a look at clause (c) of sub-
    section (3) and sub-section (4) of Section 14 of the Act. These
    provisions, as they stood before the Amendment Act, 2009,
    when the Controller passed the orders of eviction, are extracted
    herein below:
G        "14. Eviction of tenants -
         (1) .................. .
         (2) ................ ..
         (3) A landlord may apply to the Controller for an order
H        directing the tenant to put the landlord in possession:
   HARi DASS SHARMA v. VIKAS SOOD & ORS.                     1037
              [A.K. PATNAIK, J.]

            (a) ...................                                   ·A
            (b) ................. ..
            (c) in the case of any building or rented land, if he
            requires it to carry out any building work at the
            instance of the Government or local authority or any      B
            Improvement Trust under some improvement or
            development scheme or if it has become unsafe or
            unfit for human habitation or is required bona fide
            by him for carrying out repairs which cannot be
            carried out without the building or rented land being     C
            vacated or that the building or rented land is
            required bona fide by him for the purpose of building
            or re-building or making thereto any substantial
            additions or alterations and that such building or re-
            building or addition or alteration cannot be carried      D
            out without the building or rented land being
            vacated.
     (4) The Controller shall, if he is satisfied that the claim of
     the landlord is bona fide, make an order directing the
     tenant to put the landlord in possession of the building or      E
     rented land on such date as may be specified by the
     Controller and if the Controller is not so satisfied he shall
     make an order rejecting the application:
           Provided that the Controller may give the tenant a
     reasonable time for putting the landlord in possession· of       F
     the building or rented land and may extend such time not
     exceeding three months in the aggregate.n
     ·8. A reading of clause (c) of sub-section (3) of Section 14
of the Act would.show that a landlord may apply to the Controller
for an order directing the tenant to put the landlord in              G
possession in case of any building if it is required bona· fide
by him for the purpose of building or rebuilding or making
thereto any substantial additions or alterations and that such
building or rebuilding or addition or alteration cannot be carried
out without the building being vacated. In Jagat Pal Dhawan v.        H
    1038     SUPREME COURT REPORTS                 [2013] 5 S.C.R.


A Kahan Singh (dead) by L.Rs. & Ors. (supra), this Court had
    the occasion to consider the provisions of Section 14(3)(c) of
    the Act and R.C. Lahoti J. writing the judgment for the Court
    held that Section 14(3)(c) does not require that the building
    plans should have been duly sanctioned by the local authorities
B   as a condition precedent to the entitlement of the landlord for
    eviction of the tenant. To quote from the judgment of this Court
    in Jagat Pal Dhawan v. Kahan Singh (dead) by L.Rs. & Ors.
    (supra):
        "The provision also does not lay down that the availability
C       of requisite funds and availability of building plans duly
        sanctioned by the local authority must be proved by the
        landlord as an ingredient of the provision or as a condition
        precedent to his entitlement to eviction of the tenant.
        However still, suffice it to observe, depending on the facts
D       and circumstances of a given case, the court may look into
        such facts as relevant, though not specifically mentioned
        as ingredient of the ground for eviction, for the purpose of
        determining the bona fides of the landlord. If a building, as
        proposed, cannot be constructed or if the landlord does
E       not have means for carrying out the construction or
        reconstruction obviously his requirement would remain a
        mere wish and would not be bona fide."
       It will be clear from the aforesaid passage that this Court
  has held that availability of building plans duly sanctioned by
F the local authorities is not an ingredient of Section 14(3)(c) of
  the Act and, therefore, could not be a condition precedent to
  the entitlement of the landlord for eviction of the tenant, but
  depending on the facts and circumstances of each case, the
  Court may look into the availability of building plans duly
G sanctioned by the local authorities for the purpose of
  determining the bonafides of the landlord.
       9. In the present case, the Controller has held in the orders
  of eviction that the appellant had admittedly obtained sanction
  from the Municipal Corporation, Shimla and that the building
H was an old one and that the appellant was occupying the
    HARi DASS SHARMA v. VIKAS SOOD & ORS.                   1039
               [A.K. PATNAIK, J.]

second floor of the building and that rebuilding or reconstruction   A
cannot be carried out without the building being vacated by the
respondents. The Controller has accordingly arrived at a
satisfaction that the appellant bonafide requires the building for
the purpose of building or rebuilding and has accordingly issued
the direction in terms of sub-section (4) read with clause (c} of    B
sub-section (3) of Section 14 of the Act to the respondents to
put the appellant in possession of the building. This order of
the Controller was challenged by the respondents in appeal but
the Appellate Authority has dismissed the appeal. Thereafter,
the respondents filed the Civil Revisions before the High Court      c
challenging the orders of the Controller and the orders of the
Appellate Authority, and the High Court has in the impugned
common order maintained the orders passed by the Controller
and the Appellate Authority subject to the modifications
mentioned in para 27 of its order. Para 27 of the impugned           D
order of the High Court is quoted hereinbelow:
     "Accordingly, in view of the observations and discussions
     made hereinabove, there is no merit in the petition and the
     same is dismissed. However, in the interest of justice, in
     view of the judgment rendered by their Lordships of the         E
     Hon'ble Supreme Court in Harrington House School v.
     S.M. lspahani & Another (2002) 5 SCC 229, though the
     orders passed by both the authorities are upheld/
     sustained, however, it is directed that only on the valid
     revised/ renewed building plan being sanctioned by the          F
     competent authority, the order of eviction shall be available
     for execution. The valid revised/ renewed sanctioned or
     approved building plan shall be produced before the
     executing court whereupon the executing court shall allow
     a reasonable time to the tenants for vacating the property      G
     and delivering possession to the landlord. Till then the
     tenant shall remain liable to pay charges for use and
     occupation of the premises at the same rate at which they
     are being paid earlier. Subject to these modifications, the
     orders passed by both the authorities below are                 H
    1040    SUPREME COURT REPORTS                  [2013) 5 S.C.R.

A       maintained. No costs."
        10. We also find that the respondents challenged the
  impugned order of the High Court separately in Special Leave
  Petition (Civil) Nos. 14028 and 2971 of 2012, but this Court
  dismissed the Special Leave Petitions of the respondents. The
B result is that the findings of the Controller regarding the claim
  of the appellants for eviction of the respondents on the ground
  that the appellant bonafide requires the building for rebuilding
  or reconstruction as affirmed by the appellate authority and the
  High Court have become final could not be reopened on any
C ground whatsoever and the respondents cannot now contend
  that the appellant cannot any longer construct or reconstruct the
  building on account of drastic changes in the building
  regulations within the city limits of Shimla.
        11. In fact, the only question that we have to decide in this
0
  appeal filed by the appellant is whether the High Court could
  have directed that only on the valid revised/renewed building
  plant being sanctioned by the competent authority, the order of
  eviction shall be available for execution. The High Court has
  relied on the decision of this Court in Harrington House School
E v. S.M. /spahani & Anr. (supra) and we find in that case that
  the landlords were builders by profession and they needed the
  suit premises for the immediate purpose of demolition so as
  to construct a multi-storey complex and the tenants were
  running a school in the tenanted building in which about 200
F students were studying and 15 members of.the teaching staff
  and 8 members of the non-teaching staff were employed and
  the school was catering to the needs of children of non-resident
  Indians. This Court found that although the plans of the proposed
  construction were ready and had been tendered in evidence,
G the plans had not been submitted to the local authorities for
  approval and on these facts, R.C. Lahoti, J, writing the judgment
  for the Court, while refusing to interfere with the judgment of the
  High Court and affirming the eviction order passed by the
  Controller, directed that the landlords shall submit the plans of
H reconstruction for approval of the local authorities and only on
    HARi DASS SHARMA v. VIKAS SOOD & ORS.                    1041
               [A.K. PATNAIK, J.]

the plans being sanctioned by the local authorities, a decree         A
for eviction shall be available for execution and further that such
sanctioned plan or approved building plan shall be produced
before the executing court whereupon the executing court shall
allow a reasonable time to the tenant for vacating the property
and delivering the possession to the landlord and till then the       B
tenants shall remain liable to pay charges for use and
occupation of the said premises at the same rate at which they
are being paid. In the present case, on the other hand, as we
 have noted, the Rent Controller while determining the bonafides
 of the appellant-landlord has recorded the finding that the          c
 landlord had admittedly obtained the sanction from the
 Municipal Corporation, Shimla, and has accordingly passed the
 order of eviction and this order of eviction has not been
disturbed either by the Appellate Authority or by the High Court
 as the Revision Authority. In our considered opinion, once the       D
 High Court maintained the order of eviction passed by the
Controller under Section 14(4) of the Act, the tenants were
 obliged to give vacant possession of the building to the landlord
 and could only ask for reasonable time to deliver vacant
 possession of the building to the landlord and hence the
 direction of the High Court that the order of eviction could only    E
 be executed on the revised plan of the building being approved
 was clearly contrary to the provisions of Section 14(4) of the
 Act and the proviso thereto.
     12. We accordingly allow the appeals, set aside the              F
directions in Para 27 of the impugned judgment of the High
Court, but grant time to the respondents to vacate the building
within three months from today. We make it clear that it will be
open for the respondents to apply for re-entry into the building
in accordance with the proviso to clause (c) of Section 14(3}         G
of the Act introduced by the Amendment Act, 2009.
Considering, however, the peculiar facts and circumstances of
the cases, there shall be no order as to costs.
-B.B.B.                                        Appeals allowed.
                                                                      H