Permanent structure test for tenant alterations turns on durability, intention and damage on removal under tenancy law.

Permanent structure for eviction purposes is assessed on the facts of each case, by examining the intention behind the work, its nature and extent, the materials used, durability, removability without substantial damage, and the purpose of the construction. The text states that replacement of a tin-sheet roof with a cement concrete slab and construction of a passage were treated as lasting structural changes rather than temporary repairs, and that absence of additional usable floor area does not exclude Section 108(p) of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882. The stated consequence is that such alterations may constitute erection of a permanent structure without the landlord's consent under Section 13(1)(b) of the West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act, 1956.

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Issues: Whether the tenant's replacement of the tin-sheet roof with a cement concrete slab and construction of a passage amounted to erection of a permanent structure without the landlord's consent, attracting eviction under Section 13(1)(b) of the West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act, 1956 read with Section 108(p) of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882.

Analysis: The expression "permanent structure" is not defined in the relevant statutes and must be determined on the facts of each case. The decisive considerations are the intention behind the construction, its nature and extent, the materials used, its durability, whether it can be removed without substantial damage, and the purpose for which it was erected. The Court held that the relevant alteration was not a temporary repair or improvement but a lasting structural change intended to continue throughout the tenancy. The concrete slab and the passage were permanent features, and their removal would cause damage to the premises. The Court further held that the absence of additional usable space does not take the case outside Section 108(p) of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882.

Conclusion: The tenant's acts amounted to erection of a permanent structure without consent and constituted a ground for eviction.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded, the High Court's dismissal of the suit was set aside, and the trial court's decree for eviction was restored.

Ratio Decidendi: For eviction under Section 13(1)(b) of the West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act, 1956, read with Section 108(p) of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, the test is whether the tenant erected a structure intended to endure for the tenancy and having the attributes of permanency, not whether it created additional floor area or was literally everlasting.

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