Holding

The Additional Rent Controller erred in refusing leave to contest; the refusal was improper and the order of eviction is set aside.

Summary

The respondent landlord filed an eviction petition under Section 14(1)(e) of the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958, claiming a bona‑fide requirement for the premises. The appellant tenant applied for leave to contest the eviction under Section 25‑B, asserting that he was not a tenant but was in possession pursuant to an agreement to sell the property. The Additional Rent Controller, misreading the petition, concluded that the tenant had admitted a landlord‑tenant relationship and refused leave, consequently ordering eviction; the Delhi High Court affirmed this order. On appeal, the Supreme Court examined the statutory scheme of Section 25‑B, emphasizing that refusal of leave when the tenant raises a triable issue amounts to a deemed admission and is a drastic measure that must be strictly construed. The Court found that the Controller had erred in his interpretation, as the tenant’s pleadings clearly denied any tenancy. Accordingly, the Supreme Court set aside both the Controller’s and the High Court’s orders and allowed the appeal.

Issues considered

What is the correct interpretation of Section 25‑B of the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958 regarding the refusal of leave to contest an eviction petition?
Whether the Additional Rent Controller was justified in refusing leave to contest when the tenant denied a landlord‑tenant relationship?

Legislation cited

Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958s. 14(1)(e), s. 25(4), s. 25-B

Subjects

rent controlevictionbona fide requirementSection 25Blandlord‑tenant relationshipleave to conteststrict construction

Judgment

MANOJKUMAR A
v.
,, BIHARI LAL (DEAD) BY LRS.

APRIL 18, 2001

[D.P. MOHAPATRA AND SHIVARAJ V. PATIL, JJ.] B

Rent Control and Eviction :

Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958: Sections 14(1) (e) and 25-B.

Eviction Petition-Leave to contest-Refusal of-Landlord filed eviction
c
petition against the tenant on the ground of bona fide requirement-Tenant
sought leave to contest the petition on the ground that he was not put in
possession as tenant but on the basis of an agreement to sell the property
to him-Additional Rent Controller proceeding on the assumption that the
tenant had not denied the relationship of landlord and tenant and had D
admitted all the ingredientsfor establishing a case under S. l 4(l)(e) refused
leave and allowed the eviction petition-High Court dismissed the revision-
Validity of-Held: Strict interpretation of S.25-B is necessaiy as the provision
-(
is a drastic measure-Additional Rent controller failed to read the petition
and the affidavit correctly resulting in the misconceived idea about the case
of the tenant-This misconception vitiated the entire order-Hence, orders
E
of Additional Rent controller and High Court set aside.

The respondent-landlord filed an eviction petition against the appellant~
tenant on the ground of bona fide requirement of the appellant and his family
members under Section 14(1)(e) of the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958. In the
~" said election petition the appellant filed an application under Section 25-B of
F
the Act seeking leave to contest the 1>rayer for eviction on the ground that
the a1>1>ellant was put in possession of the suit premises on the basis of the
agreement to sell the 1>ro1>erty to him and not as a tenant.
=9,
' The Additional Rent controller proceeding on the assumption that the
G
appellant had not denied the relationshi1> of landlord and tenant and had admitted
all the ingredients for establishing a case under Section 14(1)(e) of the Act
/
allowed the eviction petition. The High Court dismissed the Revision. Hence
this appeal.
).-

Allowing the a11peal, the Court H
73
74 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2001] 3 S.C.R.

A HELD : 1. From the provisions ofSection 25(4) of the Delhi Rent Control
Act, 1958 it is manifest that in case the tenant's prayer for leave to contest
is refused by the Controller then he shall be deemed to .have admitted the
case of bona fide requirement pleaded by the landlord and on the basis of the "
deemed admission an order of eviction will be passed by the Controller. The
provision presc1ibed is a drastic measure for eviction of tenants, particularly
B in a statute intended to provide protection to the tenants against arbitrary
and whimsical action of unscru1mlous landlords for their eviction. Therefore,
strict interpretation of the pro,isions is necessary. On a reasonable and
purposeful interpretation of the statute, it is clear that if from a l>erusal of
the petition for leave to contest and the affidavit filed with it, the Controller
c finds that the tenant has pleaded a triable case then he shall not refuse leave
to contest the case; otherwise the provision is liable to be misutilised by
unscrupulous landlords to get their tenants evicted easily. [79:..A-C]

2.1. Coming to the order passed by the Additional Rent Controller, he
proceeded on the as~umption that the appellant had not denied the relationship
D of landlord and tenant and in fact had admitted all the i111gredients for
establishing a case under Section 14(1)(e) of the Act. This impression was
totally erroneous being based on a misreading and misconstruction of the
petition filed by the appellant seeking leave to contest. On a perusal of the
)"--
1>etition, it is clear that what the appellant had pleaded was that there was no ,::
relationship of landlord and tenant between the parties inasmuch as he had
E been put in possession to sell the pro1>erty to him and not a!; a tenant. The
Additional Rent Controller failed to read the petition and the atlida,it correctly
which resulted in the misconceived idea about the case of the appellant This
misconception vitiated the entire order. The High Court also failed to notice
this manifest error in the order of the additional Rent Controller and disposed
F of the Revision Petition by merely granting leave to the appcll:mt to approach
the Civil Court for appropriate interim order in the suits filed by him. The
order of the Additional Rent Controller, which is manife~ily erroneous, should
not have been allowed to ~1and. [79-D-G]
!!:..____

2.2. The order passed by the Additional Rent Controller as confirmed (""'<-
G by the High Court is unsustainable and has to be vacated. [7~J-H]

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 2866 of
2001.
-(
From the Judgment and Order dated 1.9.98 of the Delhi High Court in
H C.R No. 380 of 1998.
~

MANOJ KUMAR v. BIHARI LAL [D.P. MOHAPATRA, J.] 75

Jaspal Singh and Ms. Rachana Srivastava for the Appellant. A
Ranjit Kumar, Ms. Suruchi Aggarwal and YR. Grover for the Respondent.

The following Judgment of the Court was delivered by

D.P. MOHAPATR.\, J. Leave granted.
B
The core question that arises for determination in this case is whether
the Additional Rent Controller, Delhi, in the facts and circumstances of the
case, was right in refusillg leave to contest the prayer of eviction to the
appellant. The parties are related to each other. The appellant is the nephew
of the respondent. The dispute relates to the property No. 5A/l 1004, Gali
No. 7, WEA Sat Nagar, Karol Bagh, Delhi, which is a residential premises. The
c
proceedings before the Rent Controller was initiated on the application filed

- by the respondent under Section 14(l)(e) of the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958
(for short 'the Act') seeking eviction of the appellant on the ground of bona
fide requirement of the landlord for occupation by himself and his family
members. In the said proceeding, the appellant filed an application under D
Section 25(B) of the Act seeking leave to contest the prayer for eviction. The
application filed by the appellant under Section 25(B) was rejected and the
petition filed by the respondent for eviction of the appellant was allowed vide
the order dated 20th March, 1998 of the Additional Rent Controller, Delhi. The
operative portion of the order reads thus:
E
"In view of the above discussion and for the reasons given
therein, I am of the considered view that the respondent has failed to
put forth any fact/triable issue which require recording of evidence.
Therefore, application under· section 25B(5) of DRC Act for grant of
leave to defend is dismissed. Accordingly, eviction order is passed in F
favour of the petitioner and against the respondent qua the suit
premises No. 5A/11004 (Quarter No. 167) Ground Floor, Gali No. 7
WEA Sat Nagar, Karol Bagh, New Delhi more specifically shown in
red colour in the site plan whieh is now Ex.CI. However, this order
shall not be executable before e"'i>iry of the period of six months from
today. File be consigned to RR." G
The Revision Petition filed by the appellant against the said order was
dismissed by the High Court by the order dated 1st September, 1998. The
)... operative portion of the order is extracted hereinbelow:

"The pleas which have been raised by learned counsel for the petitioner H
·~
' ~
76 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2001] 3 S.C.R. \

A are already being examined by Civil Court for which the petitioner will
be at liberty to move for appropriate orders of stay or directions in
respect of alleged dispute between the parties. The respondent shall
be at liberty to resist the same by taking out proceedings in accordance
with law. The present petition, in view of the above, is dismissed with
the liberty as aforesaid."
B
Hence, this appeal.

The case of the respondent as appears from the averments in the
eviction petition is that he is the landlord of the premises in question and the
appellant is his tenant. An agreement was entered betwe:en the parties on
c 1.11.1985 for sale of the property by the respondent to the appellant for ~

consideration of Rs. 49,000, out of which a sum of Rs. 45,000 was paid by the
latter to the former as part payment of consideration and the appellant was
put in possession of the property. Subsequently, it transpired that due to
some difficulty the sale deed could not be executed. The sum rece.ived towards
D consideration was returned by the respondent to the appellant. Thereafter, the
appellant continued to occupy the premises as a tenant w.e.f 1.11.1993. It was
the further case of the respondent that he required the premises for occupation
by himself and members of his family and, therefore, an order for eviction of
tl1e tenant may be passed. ~
r
E On receiving notice, the appellant filed the application under Section
25(B) of the Act accompanied by an affidavit in which it was stated inter alia
that on the face of even admitted facts the case pertains to a dispute over
ownership and not a dispute as regards landlord and tenant. In paragraph 4
of the petition, it was specifically averred that the petitioner (respondent
herein) has not put the respondent in possession as tenant but vide an
F agreement to sell after receiving full and final payment. It was alleged in
paragraph 5 of the petition that the alleged tenancy is a figment and fiction
of the mind of the petitioner which does not exist at all; that nothing whatsoever
has been prima facie shown that the ownership was overnight turned into
tenancy. It was also averred in the petition that the petitioner was trying to
G take fraudulent advantage of issuing two cheques to the rnspondent (appellant
herein) by saying that it was a refund of the sale consideration. According
to the appellant, there was no question of any refund of consideration. It was
also alleged that the petition was false and fraudulent and there is no cause
of action in favour of the petitioner. -(

.H From the order passed by the Additional Rent Controller it appears that
MANOJ KUMAR v. ~!HARi LAL [D.P. MOHAPATRA, J.] 77 ..

he proceeded on the assumption that the appellant had admitted the A
relationship of landlord and tenant between the parties. He observed in
. paragraph 4 of the order that "the respondent in his application as well as
;
in the accompanying affidavit has stated that the present case pertains to
dispute of ownership and there is no dispute as regard to landlord and tenant.
in paragraph IO of the' order while recording his findings on th~ 'essential
ingredients' of Sectlo~ 14(l)(e) of the Act, the Additional Rent Controller B
observed "he has specifically stated that there is no' disput~ as regard to
landlord and tenant~ On such consideration, the Additional Rent Controller
declined to grant lea~e to the appellant to contest the prayer fo~ eviction and
allo~ved the eviction petition filed by the respondent. . . .
. . , ' . ':·
c
, '

From the order of the High Court it appears that the Court has not ,
adverted to the questions which arise for determination in the case. The court
disposed of the Revision Petition filed by the appellant with the observation
that since he has filed two suits for specific"performance of the agreement of
sale between the parties; he could approach the Civil Court for appropriate
order of stay or direction. •• D
. Br the order dated 19.7.1999, this Court issued notice to the respondent
to show cause why the special leave petition should not be d.isposed of at
notice stage itself for showing cause as to why till the petitioner's suit for
specific performance and title suit which are pending, are decided, the decree
for possession should not be executed. But at the hearing of the appeal, E
learned counsel appearing for both the parties' have addressed the court on
the question of validity and Sustainability of the order passed by the Additional
Rent Controller rejecting the application filed by the appellant under Section
25(B) of the Act. Therefore, we will take up the question as formulated earlier.

In Section 25(B), the special procedure for the disposal of applications • F
·for eviction on the ground of bona fide re(iuirement is laid down. Sub-
. Sections l, 4, 6, 8 and IO of the said.Section which are relevant forthe purpose
of the present ease are quoted here,under:

"Section 25(B)- Special procedure for the disposal of applications·
for eviction on the ground of bona fide requirement- G
. (I) Every applicati~n by.a I~dlord for the recovery of possession
of any premises on the ground specifi~ in clause (e) of the
proviso to sub-section (I) of Section 14, or under Section 14A
_(or under Section 14B or under section 14C or under section
140), shall be dealt with in accordance with the procedure· H

..
.·
/•
~
'

78 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2001] 3 S.C.R.

A specified in this section.
x x x x
x x x x

(4) The tenant on whom the summons is duly served (whether in
B the ordinary way or by registered post) in the form specified hi
the Tl\ird Schedule shall not contest the prayer for eviction from
the premises unless he files ari affidavit stating the grounds on
which he seeks to contest the application for eviction and obtains
leave from the Controller :as hereinafter provided; and in default
of his appearance in pursuance of the summons or his obtaining
c suc.h leave, the statement made by the landlord in the application
for eviction shall be deemed to be admitt¢ by the tenant and
the applicant shall be entitled to an order for e:viction on the
ground aforesaid.
..
x x x x
D •
(6) Where leave is granted to the tenant to contest the application,
the Controller shall commence the hearing of the application as
. early as practicable.
,,..
x x x x
E (8) No appeal or second appeal shall lie against an order for the
recovery of possession of any premises made by the Controller
in accordance with the procedure specified in this section: ~

Provided that the High Court may, for the purpose of satisfying
itself that an ord~r made by the Controller under this Section is
F according to law, call for the records of the case and pass such
order in respect thereto as thinks fit.

x x ·X x

(10) Save as otherwise provided in this Chapter, the~ procedure for
G the disposal of an application for eviction on the ground specified
·in clause (e) of the proviso to sub-section (1) of section 14, or
under section 14A, shall be the same as the procedure for the .
disposal of applications by Controller."
_,,.
On a plain reading of the provision in Section 2.5(B), it is clear that the
H Statute prescribes a special procedure to be followed in the proceedings for
MANOJ KUMAR v. BIHARI LAL [D.P. MOHAPATRA, J.] 79

the eviction of a tenant in certain class of cases. From the provisions of sub- A
r section 4 of Section 25 it is manifest that in case the tenant's prayer for leave
to contest is refused by the Controller then he shall be deemed to have
admitted the case of bdna fide requirement pleaded by the landlord and on
.the basis of the deemed admission an..order of eviction will be passed by the
Controlfer. The provision prescribed is a drastic measure for eviction of
tenants particularly, in a statute intended to. provide protection to tenants B
against arbitrary arid whimsical action of unscrupulous landlords for their
eviction. Therefore, strict interpretation of the provisions is necessary. On a
reasonable and purposeful interpretation of the statute, it is clear that if from
perusal of the petition for leave to contest and the affidavit filed with it, the
Controller finds that the tenant has pleaded a triable case then he shall not C
refuse leave to contest the case, otherwise the provision is liable to be mis-
utilised by unscrupulous landlords to get their tenants evicted easily.

Coming to the order passed by the Additional Rent Controller, as noted
earlier, he proceeded on the assumption that the appellant had not denied the
relationship of landlord and tenant and in fact had admitted all the ingredients D
for establishing a case under Section 14(l)(e) of the Act. The impression was
totally erroneous, based on a mis-reading and mjs- construction of the petition
filed by the appellant seeking leave to contest. Ort perusal of the petition, it
is clear to us that what the appellant had pleaded was that there was no
relationship of landlord and tenant between the parties inasmuch as· he had E
been put in possession of the premises on the basis of the agreement to sell
the property to him and not as a tenant. Unfortunately, the Additional Rent
Controller failed to read the petition and the affidavit correctly which resulted
in the mis-conceived idea about the case of the appellant. This mis-conception
vitiated the entire order. It is unfortunate that the High Court failed to notice
this manifest error in the order of the Additional Rent Controller and disposed F
of the Revision Petition by merely granting leave to the appellant to approach
. the Civil Court for appropriate interim orderin the suits filed by him. We are
constrained to· observe that the manner of disposal of the case by the High
Court was rather superficial. The order of the Additional Rent Controller
which is manifestly erroneous should not fi.ave been allowed to stand.
G
On consideration of the entire matter, we have no hesitation to hold that
the order passed by the Additional Rent Controller as confirmed by the High
Court is unsustainable and has to be vacated. Accordingly, the appeal is
allowed. The order passed by the High Court of Delhi dated 1st September,
1998 in Civil Revision No. 380/98 confirming the order passed by the Additional H
80 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2001] 3 S.C.R.

A Rent Controller dated 20th M;µch, 1998 is set aside.
It is made clear that the appellant shall clear the arrears/dues for use
and·occupation of the premises from 1.12.93 ~o June 2000, if the same has not
been already done, within three months from today. There shall be no order
as .to costs.
B
V.S.S. Appeal allowed.