LexM/S. ASHOK CATERERS versus MUNICIPAL CORPORATION OF GREATER BOMBAY (BEST UNDERTAKING)
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MIS. ASHOK CATERERS v. MUNICIPAL CORPORATION OF GREATER BOMBAY (BEST UNDERTAKING) FEBRUARY, 19, 1997 (K. RAMASWAMY AND S. SAGHIR AHMAD, JJ.) Rent and Eviction : Bombay Municipal CorporationAct, 1888: S. 105-B( 1 }--'Unauthorised occupant'-Eviction of-Appellant given · the premises on lease 011 monthly basis f<?r five years-Lease expired by efflux A B c of time-Also tenancy determined-Eviction order against appellant passed-Appellant challenged the eviction on the ground that it could not be treated as an unauthorised occupant and as such the respondent-Corporation D could not resort to summary remedy u/s. 105-B(l)-fleld, unauthorised oc- cupation includes continuance in occupation by a person after the authority under which he occupied the premises has "expired" or it has been "duly detennined"-After expiry of lease period under the contract or its detemiina- tion, the quandrum tenant becomes unauthorised occupant-Authorities can- E not arbitrarily detennine the right and interest created in the person in lawful possession except either for a public purpose or for contravention of condi- tions of contract or for violation of statutory provisions--Corporation pleaded that it needed the premises for expansion of the existing bus stop-In the circumstances detennination of lease and initiatingsummary proceedings u/s. 105-B(l) is clearly in consonance with the provisions of the Act-High Court F has not committed any e"or of law in holding the appellant an unauthorised occupant. Prakash Warehousing Co. v. Municipal Corporation of Greater Bombay & Anr., (1991) 2 sec 304, referred to G CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Special Leave Petition (C) No. 3659 of 1997. From the Judgment and Order dated 15.1.97 of the Bombay High Court in W.P. No. 6276 of 1996. .H 201 202 :,UPREME COURT REPORTS (1997] 2 S.C.R. · A Bhimrao Naik, Shakeel Ahmed and Safia Khan for the Petitioner. The following Order of the Court was delivered : This special leave petition arises from the judgment and order dated B January 15, 1997 passed by the learned Single Judge of the Bombay High Court in W.P. No. 6276 of 1996. The petitioner had a lease on monthly basis and the respondent had offered it for five years though the petitioner had not accepted the same. Subsequently, as found by the courts below, the lease expired in January C 1990 by afflux of time. However, the tenancy was determined by order dated December 24, 1994. Thereafter, summary proceedings were initiated under Section 105-B(l) of the Bombay Municipal Corporation Act (for short, the "Act") and eviction order was passed. The petitioner filed an appeal before the civil court which by order dated 5th December, 1996 D affirmed the eviction order. Feeling aggrieved, the petitioner filed the writ petition which has come to be dismissed by the High Court. Thus this special leave petition. Shri Bhimrao Naik, learned senior counsel for the petitioner placing reliance on a decision of this Court in Prakash Warehousing Co. v. E Municipal Corporation of Greater Bombay & Anr., (1991] 2 SCC 304, contends that the respondents has no power to unilaterally terminate the tenancy, after the expiry of the period of lease, unless any of the grounds is made out either in terms of the contract or under the statute for ejecting the petitioner. In the light of the law laid down in the said decision, the F eviction order is illegal. The petitioner cannot be treated as an un- authorised occupant and the respondent could not avail of the summerty remedy under Section 105-B(l) of the Act. We find no force in the contention of Shri Naik. It is seen that the renewal made in 1985 expired in 1990. He placed before us a copy of the lease. Adnlittedly, it does not prescribe any particular period of lease but it mentions words "from month G to month". In other words, it is a tenancy on monthly basis. Correspondence appears to have taken place between the parties on the fixation of the period of the lease which ultimately did not bear fruit. Be that as it may, the question is : whether the petitioner can be treated as "unauthorised occupant" within the meaning of Section 105-B (l)(b) of the Act which H reads as under : - - - - - ASHOKCATERERSv. MUN.CORPN.OFGREATERBOMBAY 203 "105-B(l) where the Commissioner is satisfied - A (b) that any person is in unauthorised occupation of any corpora- tion premises : the Commissioner may not withstanding anything conta
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