Interpretation of the term 'wilful default' appearing in the proviso to section 10 (2) of the Tamil Nadu Buil dings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1960
Held that:- A consensus of the meaning of the words 'wilful default' appears to indicate that default in order to be wilful must be intentional, deliberate, calculated and conscious, with full knowledge of legal consequences flowing therefrom. Taking for instance a case where a tenant commits default after default despite oral demands or reminders and fails to pay the rent without any just or lawful cause, it cannot be said that he is not guilty of wilful default because such a course of conduct manifestly amounts to wilful default as contemplated either by the Act or by other Acts referred to above.
In civil appeal No. 1178 of 1984, it would appear that though the tenant had committed a default but he had paid the entire rent well before the filing of the suit by the landlord. In fact, the suit for eviction was filed by the landlord not on the ground of pending arrears but to penalise the tenant for having defaulted in the past. Such a suit cannot be entertained because once the entire dues are paid to the landlord the cause of action for filing of a suit completely vanishes. Hence, the suit arising out of civil appeal No. 1978 of 1984 must be dismissed as being not maintainable and the order of ejectment passed by the High Court is hereby set aside.
In civil appeal No. 6211 of 1983, having regard to the tests and the criteria laid down by us there can be no doubt that wilful default in the payment of arrears to the tune of ₹ 900 has been proved and as there is nothing to show that the arrears were not paid or withheld due to circumstances beyond the control of the tenant, the order of eviction passed by the High Court is confirmed, and the appeal is allowed.
In civil appeal No. 1992 of 1982 the arrears having been paid through the Bank Draft, the question of eviction of the tenant did not arise nor did the question of default come into the picture merely because the landlord wanted to harass him by filing an eviction petition. The High Court was, therefore, clearly in error in passing the decree of ejectment against the tenant. We, therefore, allow the appeal and set aside the order of the High Court evicting the tenant.
In civil appeal No. 1659 of 1982, as it was clearly a case of wilful default on the part of the tenant we affirm the order of the High Court evicting the tenant and dismiss the appeal.
In civil appeal No. 3668 of 1982, some dispute arose between the parties as to whether the rent was to be deposited in Bank, resulting in the filing of the present suit for eviction on 1.4.80 in the court of the Rent Controller by the landlord after verifying from the Bank that the tenant had not deposited the rent for the months of January and February 1980. This default, in our opinion, was undoubtedly deliberate, conscious and without any reasonable or rational basis and the High Court was perfectly right in holding that the tenant A was guilty of wilful default and passing a decree for ejectments. As no notice was given by the landlord, Explanation to proviso to s. 10 (2) of the Act does not apply at all. The appeal is accordingly dismissed.
In civil appeal No. 2246 of 1982 the High Court in revision upheld the order of eviction on the ground that there was no satisfactory explanation for non- payment of rent for the period January to June 1976 was clearly in error because the tenant had already deposited the entire dues including the rent from January to June, on 17.7.76. Thus, the question of wilful default could not arise nor could it be said that the default was either conscious or deliberate or international. Moreover, in view of the Explanation since the tenant had paid the amount within the time of the notice, there could be no question of wilful default. This fact seems to have been completely overlooked by the High Court. We, therefore, allow the appeal and set aside the order of the High Court directing eviction of the tenant.
In civil appeal No. 4012 of 1982, the tenant occupied the premises at a monthly rent of ₹ 325. It appears that the tenant defaulted in payment of tent from June 1976 onwards and after repeated demands, only a sum Or ₹ 1000 was paid by him on 1.4 77. leaving a substantial balance of arrears unpaid. This was, therefore, a clear case of wilful default where the tenant did not pay the rent deliberately, consciously and intentionally.
