Thika tenancy under the Calcutta Thika Tenancy Act does not require prior landlord permission for erection of structures.

A person qualifies as a thika tenant under section 2(5) of the Calcutta Thika Tenancy Act, 1949, when the statutory elements are met: holding land under another, liability to pay rent, and erection or acquisition of a structure for residential, manufacturing, or business use. The Act does not require prior landlord permission for erection of the structure, and no implied limitation can be read into this beneficial statute. A tenancy condition restricting use of the land for garaging lorries did not defeat thika tenancy status, and the Transfer of Property Act argument was rejected because the land use remained consistent with the lease purpose.

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Issues: Whether the respondent was a thika tenant within section 2(5) of the Calcutta Thika Tenancy Act, 1949, and whether prior permission or consent of the landlord was necessary for erection of structures on the land.

Analysis: The statutory definition of thika tenant requires a person holding land under another, liable to pay rent, and having erected or acquired a structure on that land for a residential, manufacturing, or business purpose. The definition contains no requirement that the structure must have been erected with the landlord's permission. The tenancy condition restricting user of the land to keeping lorries as a garage did not negative the erection of structures needed for that purpose, and the Act being a beneficial enactment could not be curtailed by reading into it an implied limitation not found in its language. The argument based on the Transfer of Property Act was also rejected, as the user of the land for garaging and maintenance of lorries was not treated as use for a purpose other than that for which the land was leased.

Conclusion: The respondent was a thika tenant under section 2(5) of the Calcutta Thika Tenancy Act, 1949, and no prior landlord consent was required for the erection of structures.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed, and the respondent's status as a thika tenant remained upheld, leaving the landlord without a decree in the civil court.

Ratio Decidendi: A person satisfies the definition of thika tenant where the statutory ingredients are met, and a court cannot add a requirement of prior landlord permission for erection of structures when the statute does not expressly impose it.

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