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TMI Blog1961 (4) TMI 86X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... endants obtained a lease of the disputed lands from the plaintiff for a period of 10 years, expiring on October 30, 1949. The lands in dispute have been found to lie within two miles of the limits of Poona Municipality. The landlord gave notice on October 22, 1948, terminating the tenancy as from October 30, 1949. As the defendants did not vacate the land, in terms of the notice aforesaid, the plaintiff instituted the suit for ejectment in the Court of the Civil Judge, Junior Division, at Poona in Civil Suit No. 86 of 1950. The Act of 1939 became law on March 27, 1940, but the Act was applied to Poona area with effect from April 11, 1946. Under s. 3 of the Act, a tenant shall be deemed to be a ' protected tenant' in respect of any land if he has hold such land continuously for a period of not less than six years immediately preceding either the first day of January, 1938, or the first day of January, 1945, (added by the Amending Act of 1946) and has cultivated such land personally during the aforesaid period. It is not disputed that the defen- dants-appellants became entitled to the status of 'protected tenants' as a result of the operation of the Act, as amended by ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 9;. For determining this question, we have naturally to examine the relevant provisions of the later Act. The Act of 1948, by s. 2 cl. (14) prior to its amendment by Bombay Act XIII of 1956, provides that " protected tenant' means a person who is recognised to be a protected tenant under section 31". Section 31 runs as follows:- "For the purposes of this Act, a person shall be recognised to be a protected tenant if such person has been deemed to be a protected tenant under section 3, 3A or 4 of the Bombay Tenancy Act, 1939." The force and effect of s. 31 will have to be discussed later while dealing with the arguments raised on behalf of the landlord-respondent. The next relevant provisions of the Act of 1948 are those of s. 88(1)(c) which reads:- "Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this Act shall apply:- ....................................... .............................................. (c) to any area within the limits of Greater Bombay and within the limits of the municipal boroughs of Poona City and Suburban, Ahmedabad, Sholapur, Surat and Hubli and within a distance of two miles of the limits of such boroughs; or......... As already observed, the lands in disp ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ombay General Clauses Act, inasmuch as cl. (b) aforesaid only speaks of such proceedings being continued and disposed of, without reference to the institution of such proceedings. Shortly put, the arguments on behalf of the appellants is that the taking away of the status of a protected tenant' from certain lands, as specified in s. 88, is only prospective and not retrospective, whereas the argument on behalf of the respondent is that the repeal was with retrospective effect and only so much was saved as would come directly within the terms of el. (b) of s. 89(2), and that the right claimed by the appellants was in express terms taken away by s. 88. The argument based on the second ground may be disposed of at the outset in order to clear the ground for a further consideration of the effect of ss. 88 and 89, on which the whole case depends. The learned counsel for the plaintiff- respondent placed strong reliance upon the following observations of the Lord Chancellor in the case of Abbot v. The Minister for Lands ([1895] A.C. 425,431): "They think that the mere right (assuming it to be properly so called)existing in the members of the community or any class of them to take adv ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... within the meaning of the usual saving clause'. In that ruling, their Lordships of the Privy Council assumed that the contingent right of the original grantee was a right but it was not a right accrued' within the meaning of the repealed statute. It was held not to have accrued because the option given to the original grantee to make additional purchases had not been exercised before the repeal. In other words, the right which was sought to be exercised was not in existence at the date of the repealing Act, which had restricted those rights. In the instant case, the right of a 'protected tenant' had accrued to the appellants while the Act of 1939 was still in force, without any act on their part being necessary. That right had been recognised by the public authorities by making the relevant entries in the Record of Rights, as aforesaid. On the other hand, as already indicated, s. 3A(1) of the 'Act of 1939 had given the right to the landlord-respondent to take proceedings to have the necessary declaration made by the mamlatdar that the tenant had not acquired the status of a 'protected tenant'. He did not proceed in that behalf. Hence, it is clear that s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... gislature did not intend completely to re-enact the provisions of s. 7 of the Bombay General Clauses Act. This argument is based on the absence of the word instituted' before the words 'continued and disposed of'. In our opinion there are several answers to this contention. In the first place, sub-cl. (i) is independent of sub-el. (ii) of ol. (b) of s. 89(2). Therefore, sub-el. (ii), which has reference to pending litigation, cannot cut down the legal significance and ambit of the words used in sub-cl. (i). Sub-cl. (ii) may have reference to the forum of the proceedings, whether the Civil Court or the Revenue Court shall have seizin of proceedings taken under, the repealed Act. ;We have already held that the expression 'right accrued' in sub-el. (i) does not exclude the rights of 'protected tenants"claimed by the appellants. It is well settled that where there is a right recognised by law, there is a remedy,; and, therefore, in' the absence of any special provisions indicating the particular forum for enforcing a particular right, the general law of the land will naturally take its course. In this connection, it is relevant to refer to the observations o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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