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TMI Blog2004 (10) TMI 576X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... essor-in-title of the tenant and respondent No.1. In view of the Burmah Shell (Acquisition of Undertakings in India) Act, 1976, the currency of the lease agreement was extended and on expiry of the period a request was made by the tenant for extending the currency of the lease agreement. According to the landlord a letter of refusal was sent. The landlord filed a writ petition before the Madras High Court taking the stand that since he was not willing for renewal of the lease deed in favour of the tenant, it was liable for eviction. The tenant took the stand that certain benefits under the Tamil Nadu City Tenants' Protection Act, 1921 (in short the 'Tenants Act') were available to it. In any event, without taking recourse to the remedies available under the said Act a writ petition could not have been filed. A learned Single Judge dismissed the writ petition vide order dated 23.8.1999 permitting the landlord to take appropriate proceedings in the proper Court or forum. It was noted that what was impugned was not any order but a letter of the tenant. Though reliance was placed by the landlord on the decision of this court in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. and Anr. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hereof. The provisions read as follows: "Sec.3-Payment of compensation on ejectment Every tenant shall on ejectment be entitled to be paid as compensation the value of any building, which may have been erected by him, by any of his predecessors- in-interest, or by any person not in occupation at the time of the ejectment who derived title from either of them and for which compensation has not already been paid. A tenant who is entitled to compensation for the value of any building shall also be paid the value of trees which may have been planted by him on the land and of any improvements which may have been made by him. 9. Application to court for directing the landlord to sell land. - (1)(b)(i) Any tenant who is entitled to compensation under Section 3 and against whom a suit in ejectment has been instituted or proceeding under Section 41 of the Presidency Small Cause Courts Act, 1882, taken by the landlord, may, within one month of the date of the publication of the Madras City Tenants' Protection (Amendment) Act, 1979 in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette or of the date with effect from which this Act is extended to the municipal town, township or village in which the land ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t of their context. These observations must be read in the context in which they appear to have been stated. Judgments of Courts are not to be construed as statutes. To interpret words, phrases and provisions of a statute, it may become necessary for judges to embark into lengthy discussions but the discussion is meant to explain and not to define. Judges interpret statutes, they do not interpret judgments. They interpret words of statutes; their words are not to be interpreted as statutes. In London Graving Dock Co. Ltd. V. Horton (1951 AC 737 at p.761), Lord Mac Dermot observed: "The matter cannot, of course, be settled merely by treating the psissima vertra of Willes, J as though they were part of an Act of Parliament and applying the rules of interpretation appropriate thereto. This is not to detract from the great weight to be given to the language actually used by that most distinguished judge." In Home Office v. Dorset Yacht Co. (1970 (2) All ER 294) Lord Reid said, "Lord Atkin's speech.....is not to be treated as if it was a statute definition it will require qualification in new circumstances." Megarry, J in (1971) 1 WLR 1062 observed: "One must not, of course, const ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d for his convenient enjoyment, and if so, what area or portion of the land would be necessary for his convenient enjoyment. The court may on the facts of a particular case come to the conclusion that the tenant does not require any portion of the land and in that event it may reject the application and decree the suit for ejectment and direct the landlord to pay compensation to the tenant. But if the court finds that the tenant needs the whole or any portion of the demised land for "convenient enjoyment", the court has to fix the price of the land on the basis of market value of three years immediately preceding the date of the order. The court may thereupon direct the tenant to deposit the amount so determined within a specific period being less than three months and not more than three years. If the tenant fails to pay the amount so determined, the tenant's application shall stand dismissed. Section 9 confers a privilege on a tenant against whom a suit for eviction has been filed by the landlord but that privilege is not absolute. Section 9 itself imposes restriction on the tenant's right to secure conveyance of only such portion of the holding as would be necessary for ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... that the tenant making the application has been in the occupation of the land and the superstructure wherein he may be either residing or carrying on business, and on his eviction he would be adversely affected. The policy underlying Section 9 of the Tenants Act is directed to safeguard the eviction of those tenants who may have constructed superstructure on the demised land, so that they may continue to occupy the same for the purposes of their residence or business. Section 9(1)(b) ordains the court to first decide the minimum extent of the land which may be necessary for the convenient enjoyment by tenant, it therefore contemplates that the tenant requires the land for the convenient enjoyment of the property. If the tenant does not occupy the land or the superstructure or if he is not residing therein or carrying on any business, the question of convenient enjoyment of the land by him could not arise. The court has to consider the need of the tenant and if it finds that the tenant does not require any part of the land, it may reject the application and direct eviction of the tenant, in that event the landlord has to pay compensation to the tenant for the superstructure. The a ..... 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