Appearance at hearing triggers preliminary tenancy issue under Section 42A; absent occupant, no duty to decide it.

Section 42A of the Presidency Small Cause Courts Act, 1882 applies only when an occupant appears at the hearing and claims tenancy protection under the Bombay Rents, Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act, 1947, with that claim not admitted by the applicant. The provision requires appearance on the date fixed for hearing, not merely the filing of pleadings or a written defence. In the absence of such appearance, the Small Cause Court is not bound to frame or decide a preliminary issue on tenancy. The text therefore treats the statutory condition of appearance as a necessary trigger for the special procedure.

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Issues: Whether the word "appears" in section 42A of the Presidency Small Cause Courts Act, 1882 means appearance at the hearing, and whether the Small Cause Court was bound to frame and decide a preliminary issue regarding tenancy under the Bombay Rents, Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act, 1947 even when the occupant did not appear.

Analysis: Section 42A creates a special procedure only when the occupant appears at the time appointed, claims to be a tenant within the meaning of the 1947 Act, claims the protection of that Act, and the claim is not admitted by the applicant. The language of the provision shows that "appearance" refers to appearance at the date of hearing and not merely the filing of pleadings or a written defence. The scheme of Chapter VII and the text of section 42A do not require the Court to frame a preliminary issue in the absence of such appearance. The words "preliminary issue" indicate the stage and manner of decision once a contest is raised, but they do not dispense with the statutory condition that the occupant must appear and assert the protected tenancy claim.

Conclusion: The word "appears" means appearance at the hearing, and the Small Cause Court was not obliged to frame the preliminary issue when the occupant was absent. The High Court's contrary view was incorrect.

Ratio Decidendi: Under section 42A, the obligation to decide tenancy as a preliminary issue arises only when the occupant appears at the hearing and raises a protected-tenancy claim that is not admitted by the applicant.

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