Pandikasalakkal Moidin Koya vs Chambayil Velayudhan and others

Krishnaswami Nayudu, J.—This appeal arises out of an application for fixing fair rent under S.11 of the Malabar Tenancy Act, 1929. The

landlord who is the appellant in the present civil miscellaneous second appeal objected to the maintainability of the petition on the ground that the

original tenants are not the applicants, but that was met by the respondents by relying on a partition in the family of the tenants under which the

tenants'' interests in the suit properties were allotted to the petitioners in O.P. No. 42 of 1943. The fair rent was fixed at a certain rate. Both the

Courts took the same view as regards the rate of the rent and as regards the maintainability of the petition. I see no ground to interfere with the

view taken by both the lower Courts. Mr. Subramania Aiyar urged that under the present Act as, amended by Act VII of 1954, it is not the civil

Court that has now the jurisdiction to fix the fair rent but it is the Rent Court provided under the new Act by virtue of S.16 of the Act. S.16

provides that

If any dispute arises as to the amount of fair rent payable in respect of any land under the foregoing provisions of this chapter, either the tenant, or

after the expiry of three years from the commencement of the Malabar Tenancy (Amendment) Act, 1954. The landlord may apply to the Rent

Court for the determination of the fair rent and on such application being made the fair rent shall be determined by the Rent Court.

Provided that such determination shall take effect in respect of any agricultural year, only if the application is made in that year or within three

months of the expiry thereof.

The provision obviously cannot apply to the present case as any application for fixing of fair rent under S.16 of the present Act would only have

effect in respect of any agricultural year in which the application is made or within three months of the expiry of the year. Whatever rights the

landlord may possess in respect of the future notwithstanding the applicability of the present Act to all pending proceedings, S.16 will have no

application to the facts of the present case. It will have application only for future rents and a reading of S.16 shows that the landlord may apply for

the fixing of fair rent before the Rent Court only after the expiry of three years from the date of commencement of the Malabar Tenancy

(Amendment) Act, 1954. In so far his rights under S.16 to apply for fair rent for the future to the Rent Court any decision in the present

proceedings will not affect, In the result, the appeal is dismissed with costs. No leave.