Tenant-protective rent control provisions: "shall" is directory, and courts may relieve technical default.

Section 11A of the Bihar Buildings (Lease, Rent and Eviction) Control Act, 1947 is to be construed as directory rather than mandatory, because the provision is tenant-protective and intended to curb delay in eviction suits. Although the text uses "shall" for deposit of arrears and monthly rent, the decisive factors are legislative intent, the statutory object, and the injustice that would follow from an inflexible reading. The court therefore retains discretion to extend time for deposit and to grant relief against technical, accidental, or unavoidable default. Default does not automatically require the tenant's defence to be struck off where justice calls for relief.

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Issues: Whether the direction under Section 11A of the Bihar Buildings (Lease, Rent and Eviction) Control Act, 1947 requiring deposit of arrears and monthly rent was mandatory so that any default necessarily compelled striking off the tenant's defence, or whether the court retained discretion to grant relief against a technical or inadvertent default.

Analysis: Section 11A was enacted as a protective measure in favour of tenants and to curb dilatory tactics in eviction suits. Although the provision uses the word "shall" for the consequence of non-compliance, the decisive factor is legislative intent, the object of the statute, and the consequences of treating the language as imperative. A strict mandatory construction would deprive the court of power to relieve against technical, accidental, or unavoidable default and could result in injustice. The court's power to fix time for deposit carries with it the power to extend time, and that construction is consistent with the scheme of the Code of Civil Procedure and with the beneficent nature of the rent control legislation.

Conclusion: The word "shall" in Section 11A is directory and not mandatory, and the court may grant relief against default where justice so requires.

Final Conclusion: The tenant's defence could not be treated as automatically struck off merely because of the default found, and the order restoring the trial court's view was warranted on the facts.

Ratio Decidendi: In a tenant-protective rent control provision, the use of "shall" does not by itself make the consequence of default mandatory; the provision must be construed according to legislative intent, and the court retains discretion to relieve against technical or non-prejudicial default.

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