Rent Controller procedure under rent law permits preliminary determination of dispositive issues where the statute is silent.

The East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949 gives the Rent Controller only limited procedural powers, and the Code of Civil Procedure applies mainly for summoning witnesses, compelling production of evidence, and execution of orders. Outside those areas, the Controller may follow his own procedure. Because the Act is intended to provide a summary and expeditious remedy, there is no express or implied bar on treating an issue as a preliminary issue where its determination may dispose of the proceedings. The cited precedent was read as recognising that discretion. The order directing issue No. 2 to be tried preliminarily was therefore upheld.

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Issues: Whether the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949 bars the Rent Controller from trying an issue as a preliminary issue.

Analysis: The Act confers only limited procedural powers on the Rent Controller by Sections 16 and 17, which attract the Code of Civil Procedure only for summoning witnesses, compelling production of evidence, and execution of orders. Outside those limited areas, the Controller is free to devise his own procedure. The Act is intended to provide a summary and expeditious remedy, and there is no express or implied prohibition against treating an issue as preliminary if its decision may dispose of the matter. The cited precedent did not lay down any contrary bar, but rather recognized the Controller's discretion in that regard.

Conclusion: There is no bar to the Rent Controller trying an issue as a preliminary one, and the order directing issue No. 2 to be so tried was upheld.

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