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Harkesh Chand v. Krishan Gopal Mehta & Ors.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 1778 of 2010)Decided 13 Feb 2017
Civil Appeal No. 1778 of 2010
Justice S.A. Bobde · Justice Ashok Bhushan

Background

The landlord-respondent sought eviction of a shop tenant in Doiwala town (Dehradun district) in 1972 by terminating the tenancy under the Transfer of Property Act, on the theory that rent-control protection under the old 1947 U.P. rent Act had lapsed in the gap between that Act's repeal and a fresh notification extending the new 1972 Act to Doiwala. The trial court and the first appellate court both ruled in the tenant's favour, holding the old Act's protective notification for Doiwala still applied, but the Allahabad/Uttarakhand High Court reversed this in a writ petition and decreed eviction, prompting the tenant's appeal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Court held that under Section 24 of the U.P. General Clauses Act, 1904, a notification issued under a repealed law continues in force under the re-enacted law so long as it is not inconsistent with the new provisions and has not been superseded, and since both the 1947 and 1972 Acts protected tenants from eviction on similar grounds, there was no inconsistency. The 1949 notification extending rent-control protection to Doiwala therefore continued seamlessly through the gap period, meaning the tenancy was protected when the landlord issued his termination notice in September 1972, making that notice invalid. Despite ruling for the tenant on this legal question, the Court used its discretion to direct that the tenant must hand over possession after three years (given the landlord's genuine need), paying monthly rent of Rs. 4,000 until then.

Lesson Learnt

When an old law is repealed and replaced by a similar new law, notifications and protections issued under the old law usually continue automatically under the new one unless they conflict with it or are expressly withdrawn: a gap in paperwork between two laws doesn't automatically strip people of legal protection.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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