Unregistered lease deed cannot override statutory month-to-month tenancy rules under section 106; termination notice upheld.

Section 106 of the Transfer of Property Act creates a deemed month-to-month tenancy for non-agricultural and non-manufacturing use unless there is a valid contract to the contrary, and termination requires fifteen days' notice. An unregistered lease deed may be used to prove the existence of tenancy, but it cannot be relied on to contract out of the statutory notice requirement where section 107 makes registration necessary for the relevant class of leases. On that basis, the unregistered agreement could not displace section 106, the notice of termination remained valid, and the remand directed by the High Court was unsustainable.

---

---

Issues: Whether an unregistered tenancy agreement could be relied upon as a contract to the contrary so as to exclude the operation of section 106 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, and whether the High Court was justified in remanding the suit for reconsideration on that basis.

Analysis: Section 106 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 creates a deemed month-to-month tenancy for purposes other than agricultural or manufacturing uses in the absence of a valid contract to the contrary, and such tenancy is terminable on fifteen days' notice. Section 107 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 requires registration only for leases from year to year, for terms exceeding one year, or reserving yearly rent; an unregistered instrument may still evidence the factum of tenancy, but its terms cannot be used to defeat the statutory regime under section 106. The agreement in question was unregistered and, therefore, could not be treated as a valid contract contracting out of the statutory notice requirement. The High Court's direction to reconsider the validity of notice on the footing that the unregistered agreement required fresh examination was therefore unwarranted.

Conclusion: The notice of termination was valid, the unregistered agreement did not displace section 106, and the remand order was unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: An unregistered lease document may be looked into to prove the existence of tenancy, but it cannot operate as a valid contract to the contrary so as to exclude the statutory incidents of a month-to-month tenancy under section 106 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882.

---