Retrospective rent control amendment applied to pending appeal; relief was limited to tenants within the protected class.

A decree for ejectment based on rent default must be assessed from the judgment and decree themselves; where arrears were paid before hearing and the decree was passed for failure to satisfy statutory conditions such as interest and costs, it is not treated as a decree on default in arrears of rent. The 1950 amendment to the West Bengal Premises Rent Control law operated retrospectively on a pending appeal, so the amended relief provisions applied to the pending application. Relief under Section 18(1) was available only to tenants within the class protected by the amended scheme, and a tenant outside that class could not obtain rescission or variation of the decree.

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Issues: (i) Whether the decree for ejectment had been made on the ground of default in payment of arrears of rent so as to attract Section 18(1) of the West Bengal Premises Rent Control Act, 1950. (ii) Whether the West Bengal Premises Rent Control (Temporary Provisions) (Amendment) Act, 1950 applied retrospectively to the pending application and appeal, thereby denying relief under Section 18(1).

Issue (i): Whether the decree for ejectment had been made on the ground of default in payment of arrears of rent so as to attract Section 18(1) of the West Bengal Premises Rent Control Act, 1950.

Analysis: The decree had to be tested by the judgment and decree themselves. Although the suit was originally founded on arrears of rent, the arrears had been paid before hearing, and the decree was passed because the tenant had not satisfied all the statutory conditions for protection under the rent law, namely payment of interest and costs as well as rent. In those circumstances, the decree could not properly be treated as one passed on the ground of default in payment of arrears of rent.

Conclusion: The decree was not one made on the ground of default in payment of arrears of rent.

Issue (ii): Whether the West Bengal Premises Rent Control (Temporary Provisions) (Amendment) Act, 1950 applied retrospectively to the pending application and appeal, thereby denying relief under Section 18(1).

Analysis: The amending Act substituted the basis of relief under Section 18(1) and Section 18(5) so that only tenants whose interests had been determined under Section 12(3) of the 1948 Act could obtain relief. The appeal rendered the matter pending when the amending Act commenced, so the amended provisions applied. As the tenant was not within the class protected by the amended section, the application for relief could not succeed.

Conclusion: The amended Act applied to the pending matter and the tenant was not entitled to relief under Section 18(1).

Final Conclusion: The tenant's application for rescission or variation of the decree failed, and the landlord's appeal succeeded with costs.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an appeal is pending at the commencement of an amending statute, the amended provisions apply to the pending proceeding if the legislature has made them retrospective, and relief cannot be claimed unless the applicant falls within the class of persons specifically protected by the amended law.

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