RAM KRISHAN GROVER AND OTHERS v. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS

A the tenant to the constitutionality of the Act must necessarily fail and hence Section 25-B is constitutionally valid.”

43. Section 13-B of the Rent Act cannot be held to be unconstitutional because it grants a right to claim eviction for bona fide need by summary procedure to a certain group of landlords, that is, B Non-Resident Indians subject to and on the satisfaction of statutory conditions which incorporate a check on frivolous evictions. The plea that Section 13-B ought to be struck down on the ground that similar rights can be extended to other landlords is without substance and should be rejected. It rests with the legislature to make laws and extend it to other similarly situated persons. The rent act(s) invariably give similar rights by a controlled mechanism and alluded riders to various other classes/groups of landlords, namely, government servants, members of armed forces, the retired or soon to retire employees of the Central and the State Governments, widows, etc.

44. The right of Non-Resident Indians to initiate eviction under the summary procedure provided in Section 18-A of the Rent Act is not an unfettered and absolute right. It is subject to satisfaction of various pre-requisites and imperatives that ensure and check potential abuse by resorting to a short-circuit procedure. The requirement should arise from a genuine need of the Non-Resident Indian landlord or his dependent. Such landlord should be an owner for five years preceding the date of filing of the eviction petition. There is a cap on permitting the use of the provision which is available only once in a lifetime and only in respect of one building. There are restrictions and constraints on the re-sale and re-letting and a further requirement to possess the property for a continuous period of three months after the possession is taken. These pre-conditions and post possession restrictions suggest that Section 13-B serves a specific policy objective to ensure the right of Non-Resident Indians to occupy their property in the Union Territory of Chandigarh and the State of Punjab as the case may be, after “returning” to their country. This right has to be balanced with the right of the tenants to establish their case on merits by disproving the genuine requirement of the Non-Resident Indians.

45. Section 13-B cannot, therefore, be treated as an arbitrary classification that infringes and violates Article 14 of the Constitution. The challenge predicated on the basis of unconstitutionality of the classification is rejected.

p. 45

AND OTHERS [SANJIV KHANNA, J.]

46. Before reserving the judgment, we had heard counsel for the appellants on merits and had expressed that we were not inclined to interfere with the factual findings. Accordingly, we have not dealt with the factual matrix in each case and have examined and answered the legal issues raised. In view of the findings upholding the constitutional validity of Section 13-B of the Rent Act and its extension and applicability to the Union Territory of Chandigarh, we would dismiss the afore-captioned appeals by the tenants. There would be no order as to costs.

Nidhi Jain Appeals dismissed. C