TMI Blog1959 (5) TMI 58X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r month from 1-5-1954. that the tenant had failed to pay the rent from August 1954 to the end of November 1955 for which a notice had also been sent to him but without any effect; on these grounds they claimed eviction of the tenant from the house in dispute. The tenant resisted this petition admitting the factum of lease but pleading that he had, on the first hearing deposited the entire rent due from him in Court and alleging in consequence, that on account of this deposit no question of default in payment of rent arose for the purposes of these proceedings. He also raised some other pleas but we are not concerned with them at this stage. Only two main issues were fixed for trial (1) whether the respondent has been paying rent regularly; and (2) whether the respondent has deposited the arrears of rent in the Court on the first hearing, if so what is its effect? The Rent Controller as well as the Appellate Authority, following the decision of Mehar Singh J. mentioned above and which is reported in AIR 1955 N.U.C. 1878 (Pepsu). decided issue No. 2 against the tenant and granted to the landlords their prayer for eviction. 3. When the matter came up on r ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r tenders the arrears of rent and interest at six per cent per annum on such arrears together with the cost of application assessed by the Controller, the tenant shall be deemed to have duly paid or tendered the rent within the time afore said; or * * * * * The counsel for the tenant submits that in Clause (i) the ground on which an application for eviction can be filed is failure on the part of the tenant to pay or tender the rent due from him in respect of the premises in question within 15 days after the expiry of the time fixed in the agreement of tenancy or in the absence of any agreement, by the last day of the month next following that for which the rent is payable. If by means of payment or tender the tenant is to. he deemed to have duly paid or tenderrd the rent within the time specified in Clause (i). then, according to the counsel, the arrears for the purposes of the proviso should be construed in the same sense in which the expression the rent due from him has been used in Clause (i). 6. As against this, Mr. Bahri, on behalf of the landlords, has submitted that the Legislature has deliberately and consciously used the exp ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the landlord. In so far as the argument based on the literal meaning of the word arrears in the proviso, in contrast with the word due in Clause (i), is concerned, in my view, this is a distinction without any real or substantial difference. The word arrears is not a term of art; it is commonly used to describe sums overdue and payable in respect of periods of time; it means something which is behind in payment or which remains unpaid, implying a duty and a default; it signifies money unpaid at the due time. The word due , which has a variety of meanings depending on the context, would, in the present context, obviously mean the amount of rent which has matured or for which the tenant is in arrears. Thus the argument based only on the use of the word arrears is not available to Mr. Bahri. The question, in the circumstances, however, boils down to this : Are the arrears of rent, to be paid or tendered according to the proviso, to be computed up to the date of such payment or tender, or are they to be ascertained merely by a reference to the amount alleged in the landlord's petition to be due from the tenant and unpaid, and which is the bas ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sfied his landlord's claim. This view also gets some support from the general rule that the scope of enquiry by the judicial and quasi-judicial tribunals is normally confined to the disputes set out by the contesting parties in. their respective pleadings; in other words the rights and liabilities of the par-ties as they exist on the date of the initiation of the proceedings alone fall within the scope of the investigation of which the tribunal is properly seized, and it is generally incompetent for a tribunal to adjudicate upon any controversial matter which does not find place in the pleadings of the parties. 9. Mr. Bahri has next contended that the case should be sent back to the learned Single Judge for deciding other points. In my opinion, the whole case having been placed before us for decision, it will serve no useful purpose to send it back to the learned Single Judge for final disposal. The counsel has contended that the tenant had made a statement that he had merely deposited rent and not interest. It is urged that in the light of this statement the amount deposited in excess of the rent due up to the date of the landlord's petition cannot be consid ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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