Deemed rent under rent control law limits monetary exclusion and preserves jurisdiction where agreed rent was admitted at commencement

Admitted agreed rent existing at the commencement of the Karnataka Rent Act, 1999 is treated as deemed rent for applying the monetary exclusion in Section 2(3)(e)(i), and an Explanation cannot be used to widen that exclusion beyond the main text. The repeal-and-savings provision preserves pending proceedings under the 1999 Act where the Act applies, and where the agreed rent had already been admitted, no separate fixation of standard rent arose. On that basis, premises carrying an agreed monthly rent of Rs. 4,000 were not outside the Act, the Small Causes Court's jurisdiction was not displaced, and the eviction challenge failed.

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Issues: Whether, after the commencement of the Karnataka Rent Act, 1999, an eviction proceeding in respect of premises carrying an agreed monthly rent of Rs. 4,000 was outside the Act on the footing that the premises exceeded the monetary threshold and therefore the Small Causes Court lacked jurisdiction.

Analysis: The repeal-and-savings provision showed that pending proceedings, other than those already in execution, were to continue under the 1999 Act where that Act applied. The monetary exclusion in Section 2(3)(e)(i) turned on the deemed rent on the date of commencement, and the Act itself defined rent payable by reference to the agreed rent or the standard rent. Where the agreed rent had been admitted before the commencement of the new Act, the question of fixing standard rent did not arise. The Explanation to the exclusion clause had to be read harmoniously with the main provision and could not be used to enlarge the exclusion beyond its text.

Conclusion: The premises were governed by the agreed rent of Rs. 4,000, which constituted deemed rent for the purpose of the Act, and the statutory exclusion did not apply; the challenge to jurisdiction failed.

Final Conclusion: The revision and appeal could not be sustained, and the dismissal of the eviction challenge was affirmed.

Ratio Decidendi: For the purpose of the rent-control exclusion based on monetary limit, admitted agreed rent existing at the commencement of the new Act is treated as deemed rent, and an Explanation cannot be construed to widen the scope of the exclusion beyond the main provision.

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