TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2012 (9) TMI 770
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....it prayed for possession of the suit property decreed in its favour. 3. Aggrieved by the decree passed against the respondent, the respondent filed Regular First Appeal No. 81 of 2009 before the High Court of Delhi which was allowed by the High Court in terms of its order dated 14th March, 2011 reversing the judgment and decree passed by the trial Court and remanding the matter back to the said Court for disposal in accordance with law. The present appeal by special leave assails the correctness of the said judgment. 4. Mr. Nagendra Rai, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the appellant, strenuously argued that the High Court had fallen in error in holding that there was no clear admission by the defendant either regarding the existence of a relationship of landlord and tenant between the parties or the service of notice of termination of tenancy upon the defendant. He referred to the averments made in the plaint and the written statement to buttress his submission that the existence of the tenancy was unequivocally admitted, no matter the defendant-tenant had questioned the validity of the lease deed in her favour for want of stamp duty and registration as r....
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.... of Order XII Rule 6 of the CPC, which reads as under: "Judgment on admissions-(1) Where admissions of fact have been made either in the pleading or otherwise, whether orally or in writing, the Court may at any stage of the suit, either on the application of any party or of its own motion and without waiting for the determination of any other question between the parties, make such order or give such judgment as it may think fit, having regard to such admissions. (2) Whenever a judgment is pronounced under sub-rule (1) a decree shall be drawn upon in accordance with the judgment and the decree shall bear the date on which the judgment was pronounced." 7. The above sufficiently empowers the Court trying the suit to deliver judgment based on admissions whenever such admissions are sufficient for the grant of the relief prayed for. Whether or not there was an unequivocal and clear admission on either of the two aspects to which we have referred above and which are relevant to a suit for possession against a tenant is, therefore, the only question that falls for determination in this case and in every other case where the plaintiff seeks to invoke the powe....
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....ence in para 2 of the plaint is also not denied. Although the defendant appears to be suggesting some collateral agreement also to have been orally entered into by the parties, the relevant portion of the written statement dealing with these aspects may at this stage be extracted: "................ It is further denied that property was let out for residential purposes. As submitted in preceding paras the said property was constructed for use of commercial purposes and was let out for commercial purposes at commercial rent. Execution of Lease Deed is though not denied but is vehemently submitted that the said document was entered upon on the asking of the plaintiff whereas the terms were different than those incorporated in the lease deed." 10. When placed in juxtaposition the averments made in the plaint and the written statement clearly spell out an admission by the defendant that lease agreement dated 10th October 2001 was indeed executed between the parties. It is also evident that the monthly rent was settled at Rs.50,000/- which fact too is clearly admitted by the defendant although according to the defendant, the said amount represented rent for commercia....
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....te of rent is more than Rs. 3500/- per month. It is, therefore, of little significance whether any structural change was made by the defendant and if so whether the same was authorised or otherwise. The essence of the matter is that the relationship of the landlord and the tenant is clearly admitted. That is the most significant aspect to be examined by the Court in a suit for possession especially when the plaintiff seeks a decree on the basis of admissions. 12. That brings us to the second question, namely, whether the tenancy stands terminated either by lapse of time or by a notice served upon the defendant. The defendant-tenant did not have the benefit of a secure term under a registered lease deed. The result was that the tenancy was only a month to month tenancy that could be terminated upon service of a notice in terms of Section 106 of the Transfer of Property Act. The plaintiff's case in para 6 of the plaint was that a notice was served upon the tenant under Section 106 of the Transfer of Property Act pointing out that the defendant- tenant had made substantial structural changes in the premises and had not complied with the terms of the lease agreement. The noti....
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....7th February, 1999 passed by the Revenue Authority under the Delhi Land Reforms Act whereby it was directed that the property would stand vested in the Gram Sabha if the plaintiff did not re-convert the land in question for agricultural purposes within three months. What is important is that the tenancy under the lease agreement dated 10th October, 2001 started subsequent to the passing of the said order of the Revenue Authority. In other words, the challenge to the title of the plaintiff qua the suit property was based on a document anterior to the commencement of the tenancy in question. It also meant that the challenge was in substance a challenge to the landlord's title on the date of the commencement of the tenancy. Section 116 of the Evidence Act, 1872, however, estoppes the tenant from doing so. The legal position in this regard is settled by several decisions of this Court and the Privy Council. Reference may in this regard be made to Mangat Ram v. Sardar Mehartan Singh (1987) 4 SCC 319 and Anar Devi (Smt.) v. Nathu Ram (1994) 4 SSC 251. In the later case this Court observed: "13. This Court in Sri Ram Pasricha v. Jagannath, has also ruled that in a suit for evict....