Full Judgment Text
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PETITIONER:
RUBBER HOUSE
Vs.
RESPONDENT:
EXCELLSIOR NEEDLE INDUSTRIES PVT. LTD.
DATE OF JUDGMENT10/03/1989
BENCH:
PANDIAN, S.R. (J)
BENCH:
PANDIAN, S.R. (J)
SHARMA, L.M. (J)
CITATION:
1989 AIR 1160 1989 SCR (1) 986
1989 SCC (2) 413 JT 1989 (1) 488
1989 SCALE (1)572
ACT:
Haryana Urban (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act, 1973-
Haryana Urban (Control of Rent and Eviction) Rules,
1976--Section 13(2)(i)/Rules 4(c), 5(1) and
6--Tenant--Eviction of on ground of arrears of
rent--Non-mentioning of quantum of arrears of rent-Whether
involves invalidating consequences on eviction petition.
Statutory Construction--Mandatory and directory provi-
sions of statute--Distinction and consequences of.
HEADNOTE:
This is a tenant’s appeal filed after obtaining Special
Leave from the Court. The Respondent-landlord of tenanted
premises (i.e. two sheds) filed a petition for ejectment of
the appellant from the premises in question before the Rent
Controller. According to the Respondent-landlord the monthly
rent payable by the appellant was Rs.950 p.m. which was
liable to be enhanced under the provisions of Haryana Urban
(Control of Rent and Eviction) Act, 1973 from Rs.950 to
Rs.1142 p.m. Accordingly, the respondent caused a notice to
be given to the appellant claiming rent @ Rs. 1142 w.e.f.
26.6.1974 till June 1977 and since the appellant defaulted
in making payment of the rent, he was liable to be ejected
from the demised premises. The tenant denied that the rent
was liable to be enhanced as claimed by the landlord. He
further asserted that he had already paid rent upto March
1975 by means of cheques and that he had tendered the ar-
rears of rent together with interest and costs as assessed
by the Rent Controller on 5.12.1977. On this reasoning he
urged that he was not liable to be evicted on the ground
taken in the Petition. The landlord in the replication
denied the receipt of rent for the period from May 1974 to
November, 1977 @ Rs.1142 p.m. Alternatively he claimed that
the rent to the extent of Rs.36,100 was due to him from the
appellant @ Rs.950 p.m. from 1st May, 1974 to June 30, 1977.
The Rent Controller held that the landlord-respondent
was not entitled to recover the rent @ Rs.1142 p.m. but only
Rs.950 p.m. as agreed between the parties and the appellant
has failed to pay the rent from 1.4.1975. Accordingly, the
Rent Controller directed the ejectment of the appellant from
the premises by granting him two months time.
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987
The appellate-authority having affirmed the order of the
Rent Controller, the appellant filed a Civil Revision before
the High Court under Sub-s. (6) of Sec. 15 of the Act.
Before the High Court it was urged by the appellant that
since in the application for ejectment no specific amount of
arrears of rent due was mentioned as contemplated by CI. (c)
of Rule 4 and Clause (1) of Rule 5 of the Haryana Urban
(Control of Rent and Eviction) Rules he could not be evict-
ed. Finding no substance in the said contention, the High
Court rejected the Civil Revision. Hence this appeal.
The appellant raised two contention before this Court
viz., that the High Court has ignored to note the statutory
obligation cast on the Rent Controller as per the proviso
attached to Sec. 13(2)(1) of the Act requiring him to calcu-
late and determine the quantum of arrears of rent; even at
the first instance has not been complied with and (ii) that
the application for ejectment was not in accordance with the
mandatory provisions of Rule 4(c) 5(1) and 6 of the Rules
framed under the Act.
Dismissing the appeal, this Court,
HELD: The proviso to Sec. 13(2)(i) requires the tenant
to pay or tender the actual arrears of rent within 15 days
of the first hearing of the application for ejectment after
due service alongwith the interest to be calculated by the
Controller at 8 per cent per annum on such arrears together
with such costs of the application, if any, as may be al-
lowed by the Controller. [994B]
When there is a statutory obligation on the tenant
either to pay or tender the arrears of rent within a period
of 15 days of the first hearing of the application for
ejectment after due notice it is for him to calculate the
exact arrears of rent due and to pay or tender the same and
if the tenant fails to do so he is deemed to have not paid
or made the valid tender of the rent. [994D]
The non-compliance of Rule 4(c) i.e. the non-mentioning
of the quantum of arrears of rent, does involve no invali-
dating consequence and also does not visit any penalty.
[999B-C]
Rules 4(c), 5(1) and 6 are not mandatory but only directory.
[999C]
If the statute is mandatory, the things done not in the
manner or form prescribed have no effect or validity. But if
it is directory, the non-compliance may not lead to any
serious and adverse consequence. [995H; 996A]
988
The word "shall" in its ordinary import is obligatory.
Nevertheless the word "Shall" need not be given that conno-
tation in each and every case and the provisions can be
interpreted as directory instead of mandatory depending upon
the purpose which the legislature intended to achieve as
disclosed by the object, design, purpose and scope of the
statute. [998H; 999A-B]
No prejudice is writ large in the present case because
proof of prejudice is also one of the necessary criteria
besides non-compliance of the provision to invalidate the
Act. [999G]
Sheo Narain v. Sher Singh, [1980] 1 SCR 836, Not applicable.
Sham Lal (dead) by Irs. v. Atme Nand Jain Sabha (Regd.)
Dal Bazar, [1987] 1, SCC 222, Not applicable.
Montreal St. Rly. Co. v. Normandin, [1917] A.C. 170, re-
ferred
to.
Seth BikhrajJaipuria v. Union of India, [1962] 2 SCR
880, referred to.
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Raza Buland Sugar Co. Ltd. v. Municipal Board, Rampur,
[1965] 1 SCR 970, referred to.
K. Kamraj Nadar v. Kunju Thevar and Others, [1959] SCR
583, referred to.
Ch. Subbarao v. Member, Election Tribunal, Hyderabad,
[1964] 6 SCR 213, referred to.
State of U.P. & Others v. Babu Ram Upadhya, [1961] 2 SCR
679, referred to.
Ajit Singh v. State of Punjab, [1983] 2 SCC 217, referred
to.
JUDGMENT:
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 2789 of
1980.
From the Judgment and Order dated 29.5.1980 of the
Punjab and Haryana High Court in Civil Revision No. 2 16 of
1980.
R.F. Nariman and D.N. Misra for the Appellant.
989
Rakesh Sahney, K.M.M. Khan and Vineet Kumar for the
Respondent.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
S. RATNAVEL PANDIAN, J. This appeal by special leave
under Article 136 of the Constitution is against the judg-
ment and order dated 29.5.1980 in Civil Revision No. 216 of
1980 passed by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at
Chandigarh.
The respondent herein being the owner of the tenanted
premises (i.e. two sheds) filed a petition for ejectment
before the Rent Controller against the tenant, the appellant
herein on the ground that the tenant had not paid the rent
from 1.5.74. The monthly rent for the premises was orginally
Rs.950. According to the landlord under the provisions of
Haryana Urban (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act, 1973
(hereinafter referred to as the ’Act’) the rent of the
demised premises was liable to be increased from Rs.950 to
Rs. 1142 per mensem. The landlord gave notice to the tenant
to pay the rent at the enhanced rate of Rs. 1142 per mensem
with effect from 26th June 1974 but the tenant defaulted in
making the payment of rent and as such he was liable to be
ejected from the premises on the ground of nonpayment of
rent. The tenant resisted the application stating that the
landlord was not entitled to claim enhanced rent at the rate
mentioned in the ejectment application under the provisions
of the Act and no legal notice was served on him claiming
the arrears of rent and he had already paid the rent upto
March 1975 by means of cheques and he had tendered the
arrears of rent together with interest and cost as assessed
by the Rent Controller on 5th December 1977 and hence the
sole ground of his ejectment from the demised premises was
no longer available to the landlord. In the replication the
landlord denied that the tenant had paid the rent to him for
the period from May 1974 to 30th November 1977 @ Rs.1142 per
mensem. In the alternative, he claimed that the rent to the
extent of Rs.36,100 was due to him from the tenant @ Rs.950
per mensem for the period 1st May 1974 to 30th June, 1977
and that the tenant having defaulted in making the payment
was liable to be ejected. It may be stated that the applica-
tion for eviction was filed on 7.6.77.
The Rent Controller held that the landlord was not
entitled to recover the rent @ Rs. 1142 p.m. but only @
Rs.950 p.m. as agreed between the parties and he had failed
to pay the rent from 1.4.75. On the basis of the above
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finding the Rent Controller directed the eject-
990
ment of the tenant from the premises by granting two months’
time.
This order of the Rent Controller, on appeal, was con-
firmed by the Appellate Authority. On being aggrieved with
the Order of the Appellate Authority, the tenant preferred a
Civil Revision Petition before the High Court under Sub-
section (6) of Section 15 of the Act. On behalf of the
tenant, it was urged before the High Court on the strength
of Clause ’C’ of Rule 4 and Clause (1) of Rule 5 of the
Haryana Urban (Control of Rent and Eviction) Rules 1976
framed under Section 23 of the Act that since in the appli-
cation for ejectment no specific amount of arrears due was
mentioned, the application was not maintainable. The High
Court rejected this plea observing thus:
"Admittedly, no such objection as to the non-
compliance of the said rules was taken either
in the written statement or before the Rent
Controller, inasmuch as it was not raised even
before the Appellate Authority. Moreover, it
has not been shown that any prejudice was
caused to the tenant on account of this non-
compliance on the part of the landlord. Under
these circumstances, no such plea can be
available to the tenant in this revision
petition for the first time particularly when
it does not affect the merits of the case nor
has it caused any prejudice to him."
Thereafter, coming to the question of arrears of rent,
the High Court found thus:
"Moreover, the tenant clearly stated on 5th
December 1977 that according to him, the total
amount, due from him at the rate of Rs.950
p.m. from 1st April 1975 to 31st May 1977 was
Rs.24,700 out of which Rs.21,696 had already
been paid by him to the landlord, which he
subsequently failed to prove by leading evi-
dence. Under these circumstances, since the
tenant failed to prove the payment of the
arrears of rent as claimed by him in his
statement recorded on 5th December 1977 he was
liable to ejectment on the ground of non-
payment of rent as provided under Section
13(2)(i) of the Act."
On the above finding, the Revision Petition was dis-
missed. Hence this present appeal.
We shall point out at this juncture that the amount of
Rs.21,696
991
which the tenant claims to have paid includes a sum of Rs.
18,844.14 which was found by the Rent Controller and the
Appellate Authority as arrears of rent.
Mr. R.F. Nariman, learned counsel appearing on behalf of
the appellant/tenant assails the impugned judgment of the
High Court on two legal grounds; firstly, that the High
Court has ignored to note that the statutory obligation cast
on the Rent Controller as per the proviso attached to Sec-
tion 13(2)(i) of the Act requiring him to calculate and
determine the quantum of arrears of rent even at the first
instance has not been complied with and secondly that the
application for ejectment was not in accordance with the
mandatory provisions of Rule 4(c), 5(1) and 6 of the Rules
framed under the Act and as such the impugned judgment is
liable to be set aside on both the grounds.
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We shall now take the first ground of attack. Before
dealing with the point of law involved, it may be necessary
to extract the relevant portion of Section 13(2)(i) of the
Act with its first proviso with which we are concerned.
"13(2) A landlord who seeks to evict his
tenant shall apply to the Controller, for
direction in that behalf. If the Controller,
after giving the tenant a reasonable opportu-
nity of showing cause against the application,
is satisfied--
(i) that the tenant has not paid or
tendered the rent due from him in respect of
the building or rented land within fifteen
days after the expiry of the time fixed in the
agreement of tenancy with his landlord or in
the absence of any such agreement by the last
day of the month next following that for which
the rent is payable.
Provided that if the tenant, within a period of fifteen days
of the first hearing of the application for ejectment after
due service, pays or tenders the arrears of rent and inter-
est, to be calculated by the Controller, at eight percenturn
per annum on such arrears together with such costs of the
application, if any, as may be allowed by the Controller,
the tenant shall be deemed to have duly paid or tendered the
rent within the time aforesaid."
The answer to the first legal question mainly turns on the
992
interpretation of the proviso to Section 13 which refers to
the following essential conditions namely:
1. There must be an application for ejectment before the
Court;
2. The tenant, within a period of fifteen days of the
first hearing of the application after due service, pays or
tenders:
(a) the arrears of rent; and
(b) the interest to be calculated by the Controller at
eight per cent per annum on such arrears together with such
costs of the application, if any as may be allowed by the
Controller;
If the above said two conditions are satisfied, then
the tenant shall be deemed to have duly paid or tendered the
rent within the time required by law.
The last paragraph of Section 13(2) enjoins that where
the above second condition of the proviso is not fulfilled
the Controller shall make an Order directing the tenant to
put the landlord in possession of the building and where he
is satisfied that the rent has been paid the application of
the landlord must be rejected.
Therefore, the sole question which has to be determined
in the case on hand is whether or not the deposit made by
the appellant was legally valid. On facts, the Rent Control-
ler, the Appellate Authority and the High Court found that
the appellant/tenant has not deposited the actual rent due
payable by him except a part of it namely Rs.2902.96 along
with the interest of Rs.261.27 and the cost of Rs.35 totall-
ing to Rs.3199.23 which deposit was less by Rs.18844.14 even
calculated at the rate of Rs.950 per mensem. In fact, the
learned counsel who appeared for the appellant/tenant before
the Appellate Authority has conceded the arrears of rent
which fact is found in paragraph 6 of the Order of the
Appellate Authority reading thus:
"The learned counsel for the appellant frankly
conceded before me that he did not challenge
the finding of the Court below that the re-
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spondent was in arrears of rent in the amount
of Rs. 18,844 on the date he tendered the
arrears of rent together with interest and
costs assessed by the Rent
Controller."
993
An attempt on the part of the tenant that he had paid
that amount has been totally rejected by all the Courts.
Only on the above finding, the Courts below held that the
tenant had not deposited the full and valid rent actually
due but only a small part of it and as such it is manifest
that the second condition enjoined by the proviso was not
fulfilled at all and on that ground alone it could be held
that the deposit was not valid one.
The learned counsel, Mr. R.F. Nariman drew our attention
to two judgments of this Court in Sheo Narain v. Sher Singh,
[1980] 1 SCR 836 and Sham Lal (dead) by Lrs. v. Atme Nand
Jain Sabha (Regd.), Dal Bazar, [1987] 1 SCC 222. In our
considered view both these decisions cannot be of any as-
sistance to the appellant in the present case because the
points for determination that arose in those two cases were
different.
Mr. R.F. Nariman then advanced an argument that a statu-
tory duty is cast under Section 13(2)(i) of the Act on the
Rent Controller to calculate and determine the arrears of
rent as well as the interest to be paid by the tenant within
a period of 15 days of the first hearing of the application
for ejectment after due service, but since the Controller
has failed to discharge that obligation no eviction can be
ordered particularly when there is a dispute with regard to
the quantum of arrears of rent. From the judgment on appeal,
it seems that a contention substantially identical to the
one presently made was advanced before the High Court which
repelled the same holding thus:
"Going through the whole scheme of the Act,
there is no provision that the Rent Controller
should decide at the first date of hearing the
amount due as arrears of
rent ...... ................... If this
argument of the learned counsel for the peti-
tioner is accepted, in that situation the
tenant will have another opportunity for
making the payment of the arrears due from
him, which, as stated earlier, is neither the
scheme of the Act nor is in consonance with
the language used in the proviso to Section
13(2)(i). On the first date of hearing, it is
the duty of the tenant to calculate the ar-
rears of rent, which according to him are due
from him and which he intends to tender on the
first date of
hearing ..................................
Since payment of rent is obligatory on the
tenant and that too within the time prescribed
in Section 13(2)(i) of the Act, it is for him
to calculate the rent which is in arrears and
pay the same as provided by the statute."
994
After a careful scrutiny of the Section 13(2)(i) and the
first proviso annexed thereto, we see no force in the sub-
missions of the learned counsel that there is any statutory
duty cast on the Rent Controller even in the first instance
to determine and calculate the arrears of rent and the
interest but on the contrary the proviso requires the tenant
to pay or tender the actual arrears of rent within 15 days
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of the first hearing of the application for ejectment after
due service alongwith the interest to be calculated by the
Controller at 8 per cent per annum on such arrears together
with such costs of the application, if any, as may be al-
lowed by the Controller. What the proviso requires is that
the Controller has to calculate the interest at 8 per cent
per annum on such arrears of rent and determine the costs of
the application, if any. If the argument of the learned
counsel is to be accepted then in every case the Rent Con-
troller has to hold an enquiry at the first instance and
determine the arrears of rent even on the first date of
hearing which is in the nature of things not possible with-
out any evidence, nor is it contemplated under the scheme of
the Act. When there is a statutory obligation on the tenant
either to pay or tender the arrears of rent within a period
of 15 days of the first hearing of the application for
ejectment after due notice it is for him to calculate the
exact arrears of rent due and to pay or tender the same and
if the tenant tails to do so he is deemed to have not paid
or made the valid tender of the rent. Hence we hold that
this argument advanced on behalf of the appellant is miscon-
ceived and fallacious.
For the reasons aforementioned, we hold that there is no
merit in the first contention.
We shall now examine the second legal contention with
reference to Rules 4(c), 5(1) and 6 of the Rules under the
Act which rules read as follows:
4. Application for eviction. Section 13
Application under section 13 of the Act, shall
besides the particulars mentioned in Rules 5
and 6 contain the following particulars name-
ly: (emphasised)
(a) xxxxxxxxxx
(b) xxxxxxxxxx
(c) The amount of arrears due and the period
of default.
995
5(1) Applications Section 4 and 13(1) In
addition to the particulars mentioned in rules
3, 4 and 6 as far as these may be applicable,
every application made under this Act shall
contain simple and concise narrative of the
facts which the party by whom or on whose
behalf the statement of pleading is made,
believes to be material to the case and which
he either admits or believes that he will be
able to prove. (emphasised)
6. Particulars to be furnished to the
Controller Section 21(1) Every landlord and
every tenant of a building or rented land
shall furnish to the Controller, or any person
authorised by him in that behalf, the follow-
ing particulars namely: (emphasised)
(a) name and number of the building or rented
land, if any, or its description and bound-
aries sufficient to identify it;
(b) street and municipal ward or division in
which the building or rented land is situated;
(c) name and address of the landlord,
if the particu lars are furnished by
the tenant and name of the tenant, if
the particulars are furnished by the landlord;
(d) whether the building is a residential,
non-residential or a scheduled building; and
(e) nature of amenities provided by the land-
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lord to the tenant
Mr. R.F. Nariman laid stress on the word "shall" occur-
ring in the above rules particularly Rule 4(c) and contended
that these rules are mandatory in character and so the non-
compliance would amount to violation of the imperative (i.e.
mandatory) provisions of these rules. According to him the
respondent/landlord has not specified the ’amount of arrears
due’ in strict substantial compliance of Rule 4(c) and as
such the present application for ejectment has to be
thrown.out. The answer to the above contention depends upon
whether these rules are mandatory or directory which ques-
tion has to be adjudged in the light of the intention of the
legislature as disclosed by the object, purpose and scope of
the statute. No doubt, if the statute is mandatory ,
996
the things done not in the manner or form prescribed have no
effect or validity, but if it is directory, the non-compli-
ance may not lead to any serious and adverse consequence. A
valuable guide for ascertaining the intention of the Legis-
lature is found in Maxwell "The Interpretation of Statutes"
(Twelfth Edition) Chapter 13 at page 3 14) under the caption
"Intentions attributed to the legislature when it expresses
none" reads thus:
"Passing from the interpretation of the lan-
guage of statutes, it remains to consider what
intentions are to be attributed to the legis-
lature on questions necessarily arising out of
its enactments and on which it has remained
silent.
.................................... It is impossible to lay
down any general rule for determining whether
a provision is
imperative or directory."
Lord Cambell in Liverpool Borough Bank v. Turner, [1860]
2 De G.F. & J. 502 at pp. 507,508 observed:
"No universal rule can be laid down for the
construction of statutes as to whether manda-
tory enactments shall be considered directory
only or obligatory with an implied nullifica-
tion for disobedience. It is the duty of
Courts of Justice to try to get at the real
intention of the Legislature by carefully
attending to the whole scope of the statute to
be construed."
Lord Penzance in Howard v. Bodington, [1877] 2 P.D. 203
at p. 211 said:
"I believe, as far as any rule is concerned,
you cannot safely go further than that in each
case you must look to the subject-matter;
consider the importance of the provision that
has been disregarded, and the relation of that
provision to the general object intended to be
secured by the Act; and upon a review of the
case in that aspect decide whether the matter
is what is called imperative or only directo-
ry."
In ’Craies on Statute Law’ (Sixth Edition) at page 63,
the following quotation is found:
997
"When a statute is passed for the purpose of
enabling something to be done, and prescribes
the formalities which are to attend its per-
formance, those prescribed formalities which
are essential to the validity of the thing
when done are called imperative or absolute;
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but those which are not essential and may be
disregarded without invalidating the thing to
be done, are called directory"
See Montreal Street Rly. Co. v. Normandin, [1917] AC 170.
With reference to non-compliance of the directory enact-
ment in ’Craies on Statute Law’ it is said at page 261:
"But on the other hand, if a statute is merely
directory, it is immaterial, so far as relates
to the validity of the thing to be done,
whether the provisions of the statute are
accurately followed out or not."
See also ’On the Construction of Statutes’ by Crawford.
In Woodward v. Sarsons, [1875] L.R. 10 C.P. 733 at page 746
it is explained as to what is called an absolute enactment
or mandatory enactment as follows:
"An absolute enactment must be obeyed or
fulfilled exactly, but it is sufficient if a
directory enactment be obeyed or fulfilled
substantially."
In Seth Bikhraj Jaipuria v. Union of India, [1962] 2
SCR p. 880 a question arose whether Section 175(3) of the
Government of India Act, 1935 which requires that contracts
on behalf of the Government of India shall be executed in
the form prescribed is mandatory or directory. The Supreme
Court at page 893 expressed its view as follows:
"Where a statute requires that a thing shall
be done in the prescribed manner or form but
does not set out the consequences of non-
compliance, the question whether the provision
was mandatory or directory has to be adjudged
in the light of the intention of the legisla-
ture as disclosed by the object, purpose and
scope of the statute. If the statute is manda-
tory, the thing done not in the manner or form
prescribed can have no effect or validity; if
it is directory, penalty may be incurred for
non-compliance, but the act or thing done is
regarded as good."
998
In Raza Buland Sugar Co. Ltd. v. Municipal Board, Ram-
pur, [1965] 1 SCR 970, certain questions arose for consider-
ation whether the whole of Section 131(3) of U.P. Municipal-
ities Act was mandatory or the part of it requiring publica-
tion in the manner laid down in Section 94(3) of the said
Act i.e. in a Hindi Newspaper was merely directory; Wancboo,
J as he then was speaking for the majority said:
"The question whether a particular provision
of a statute which on the face of it appears
mandatory, inasmuch as it uses the word
"shall"--as in the present case is merely
directory cannot be resolved by laying down
any general rule and depends upon the facts of
each case and for that purpose the object of
the statute in making the provision is the
determining factor. The purpose for which the
provision has been made and its nature, the
intention of the legislature in making the
provision, the serious general inconvenience
or injustice to persons resulting from whether
the provision is read one way or the other,
the relation of the particular provision to
other provisions dealing with the same subject
and other considerations which may arise on
the facts of a particular case including the
language of the provision, have all to be
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taken into account in arriving at the conclu-
sion whether a particular provision is manda-
tory or directory."
See also K. Kamaraja Nadar v. Kunju Thevar and Others,
[1959] SCR 583 and Ch. Subbarao v. Member, Election Tibunal,
Hyderabad, [1964] 6 SCR 2 13.
It is apposite to refer to the observation of this Court
in Hari Vishnu Kamath v. Syed Ahmad Ishaque, [1955] 1 SCR
1104 dealing with this problem:
"It is well established that an enactment in
form mandatory might in substance be directory
and that the use of the word "shall" does not
conclude the matter."
Reference may be had to (1) State of U.P. & Ors. v. Babu
Ram Upadhya, [1961] 2 SCR 679 and (2) Ajit Singh v. State of
Punjab, [1983] 2 SCC 217.
The word "shall" in its ordinary import is obligatory.
Nevertheless, the word "shall" need not be given that conno-
tation in each and
999
every case and the provisions can be interpreted as directo-
ry instead of mandatory depending upon the purpose which the
legislature intended to achieve as disclosed by the object,
design, purpose and scope of the statute. While interpreting
the concerned provisions, regard must be had to the context,
subject matter and object of the statute in question.
On a close scrutiny of the relevant rules referred supra
in the light of the above principles of statutory interpre-
tation, we are of the view that the non-compliance of rule
4(c) i.e. the non-mentioning of the quantum of arrears of
rent, does involve no invalidating consequence and also does
not visit any penalty.
From the above discussion we hold that the rules 4(c),
5(1) and 6 are not mandatory but only directory. In that
view, we see no force in the contention of the learned
counsel that the non-mentioning of the amount of arrears of
rent due in the application for ejectment has adversely
affected the proceedings of this case and as such the appli-
cation for ejectment is liable to be dismissed on that
score. Accordingly, we reject this contention also.
In the present case, the tenant himself was well aware
of the amount of arrears of rent due about which we have
already mentioned in the earlier portion of this judgment.
The present objection as to the non-compliance of the rules
admittedly was not taken either in the written statement or
before the Rent Controller or before the Appellate Authori-
ty. For the first time such a contention was raised before
the High Court which has tightly rejected the same, observ-
ing thus:
"It has not been shown that any preju-
dice was caused to the tenant on account of
this non-compliance on the part of the land-
lord."
We are in full agreement with the above view of the High
Court as no prejudice is writ large in the present case
because proof of prejudice is also one of the necessary
criteria besides non compliance of the provision to invali-
date the Act complained of as held by Chinnappa Reddy, J in
Dalchand v. Municipal Corporation, Bhopal and Another,
[1984] 2 SCC 486.
In the result, both the contentions raised by the
appellant fail. For the reasons hereinbefore mentioned, the
appeal is dismissed with
costs.
Y.L. Appeal dis-
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missed.
1000