# H.C. PANDEY v. G.C. PAUL

- **Citation:** [1989] 2 S.C.R. 769
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1989-04-28
- **Case number:** Civil Appeal No. 3342 of 1979
- **Bench:** R.S. Pathak, S. Natarajan
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/h-c-pandey-v-g-c-paul-10315
- **Pages:** 3

## Headnote

Transfer of Property Act, 1882: s. 106-Notice determining
tenancy served on co-inheriter..._.--Validity of.
_ The respondent inherited tenancy of the demised premises alongwith his mother, brothers and sisters from their father. A notice under
s. 106 of the Transfer of Property Act terminating the tenancy was
served on him. It was followed by a snit for ejectment against him.
A
B
c
Upholding the validity of the said notice, the trial court took the
view that the heirs of the original tenant held the tenancy as jointtenants and, therefore, notice to one of the defendants was sufficient to
D
determine the tenancy .
...!;'
Allowing the appeal therefrom, theHigh Court took the view that
as heirs of the deceased tenant they held the tenancy as tenants-incommon and not as joint-tenants. Therefore, the notice to quit should
have been served on each one of the successor tenants.
E
Allowing the appeal by special leave, the Court,
HELD: The notice under s. 106 of the Transfer of Property Act
r ser-ved by the appellant on the respondent was a valid notice. [77IE]
·~ .
On the death of the original tenant, subject to any provision to the
F
contrary either negativing or limiting the succession, the tenancy rights
devolve on· the heirs of the deceased tenant. The incidence of the
tenancy are the same as those enjoyed by the original tenant. It is a
single tenancy which devolves on the heirs. There is no division of the
-·( premises or of the rent payable therefor. The heirs thus succeed t';i the
G
tenancy as joint-tenants. {77ICl -
In the instant case, the respondent acted on behalf of the tenants,
he paid rent on behalf of all and accepted notice also on behalf of all. In
the circumstances, the notice served on the respondent was sufficient.
The suit must, therefore. suc~eed. [77ID]
·
. H
769
B
c
D
E
F
G
H
770
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
119891 z S.C.R-.
Shrimati Vishnawati v. BhagwatVithu Chowdhry, [1969] A.L.J.
1131, affirmed.
Ramesh Chand Bose v. Gopeshwar Prasad Sharma, AIR 1977
Allahabad 38, overruled.

## Text

H.C. PANDEY
v.
G.C. PAUL
APRIL 28, 1989
[R.S. PATHAK, CJ AND S. NATARAJAN, J.]
Transfer of Property Act, 1882: s. 106-Notice determining
tenancy served on co-inheriter..._.--Validity of.
_ The respondent inherited tenancy of the demised premises alongwith his mother, brothers and sisters from their father. A notice under
s. 106 of the Transfer of Property Act terminating the tenancy was
served on him. It was followed by a snit for ejectment against him.
A
B
c
Upholding the validity of the said notice, the trial court took the
view that the heirs of the original tenant held the tenancy as jointtenants and, therefore, notice to one of the defendants was sufficient to
D
determine the tenancy .
...!;'
Allowing the appeal therefrom, theHigh Court took the view that
as heirs of the deceased tenant they held the tenancy as tenants-incommon and not as joint-tenants. Therefore, the notice to quit should
have been served on each one of the successor tenants.
E
Allowing the appeal by special leave, the Court,
HELD: The notice under s. 106 of the Transfer of Property Act
r ser-ved by the appellant on the respondent was a valid notice. [77IE]
·~ .
On the death of the original tenant, subject to any provision to the
F
contrary either negativing or limiting the succession, the tenancy rights
devolve on· the heirs of the deceased tenant. The incidence of the
tenancy are the same as those enjoyed by the original tenant. It is a
single tenancy which devolves on the heirs. There is no division of the
-·( premises or of the rent payable therefor. The heirs thus succeed t';i the
G
tenancy as joint-tenants. {77ICl -
In the instant case, the respondent acted on behalf of the tenants,
he paid rent on behalf of all and accepted notice also on behalf of all. In
the circumstances, the notice served on the respondent was sufficient.
The suit must, therefore. suc~eed. [77ID]
·
. H
769
B
c
D
E
F
G
H
770
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
119891 z S.C.R-.
Shrimati Vishnawati v. BhagwatVithu Chowdhry, [1969] A.L.J.
1131, affirmed.
Ramesh Chand Bose v. Gopeshwar Prasad Sharma, AIR 1977
Allahabad 38, overruled.
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 3342
of 1979.
{
From the Judgment and Order dated 28.4.1978 of the Allahabad
High Court in Second Civil Appeal No. 300 of 1975.
0 .P. Rana and Raju Ramachandran for the Appellant.
Vivek Ghambir aad Praveen Kumar for the Respondent.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
PATHAK, CJ. This is a landlord's appeal by special leave arising out of a suit for ejectment.
The respondent's father B.M. Pa'ul,.was the tenant of the premises in question. On his death he left behind the respondent, his
mother, brothers and sisters who in-herited the tenancy. A notice
under s. 106 of the Transfer of Property Act terminating the tenancy
was addressed to the respondent and was served on him. It was not
addressed and served on the other tenants. A suit for ejectment was
filed by the appellant against the respondent. The validity of the notice
to quit was challenged by the respondent. It was contended that notice
should have been addressed to all the members of the family and
served on them, and in the absence of notice to all the suit was incompetent. The trial court upheld the validity of the notice relying upon
the decision of the Allahabad High Court in Shrimati Vishnawati v.
Bhagwat Vithu Chowdhry, [1969]A.L.J. 1131 on the footing that the
, defendants were joint tenants and constituted a single unit and therefore notice to one of the defendants was sufficient to determine the
tenancy. The view proceeded on the basis that the heirs of the original
tenant held the tenancy as joint tenants. When the matter ultimately
came to the High Court in second appeal, the High C-eu,rt took the
view that as heirs of the deceased tenant they held the -teQancy as
tenants in common and not as joint tenants. Accordingly, the High
Court said, notice to quit should have been served on each one of the
successor tenants. In that view, the High Court allowed the appeal and
~
"(
I
·~
J
r
H.C. PANDEY v. G.C. PAUL [PATHAK, CJ]
771
1,_· dismissed the suit. The High Court relied on Ramesh Chand Bose v.
A
Gopeshwar Prasad Sharma, AIR 1977Allahabad 38 where it was held
that a tenancy was a heritable property right and the. heirs of the
decea~ed tenant became tenants themselves.
In this appeal the entire question is whether the notice addressed
to tJ:ie respondent alone is a valid notice.
r ,
}, . It is now well settled that on the death of the original tenant,
subject to any provision to the contrary either negativing or limiting
the succession, the tenancy rights devolve on the heirs of the deceased
tenant. The incidence of the tenancy are the same as those enjoyed by
the original tenant. It is a single tenancy which devolves on the heirs.
There is no division of the premises or of the rent payable therefor.
~ That is the position as between the landlord and the heirs of the
deceased tenant. In other words, the heirs succeed to the tenancy as
joint tenants. In the present case it appears that the respoμdent acted
B
c
on behalf of the tenants, that he paid rent on behalf of all and he
accepted notice also on behalf of all. In the circumstances, the notice
D
served on the respondent was sufficient. It seems to us that the view
taken in Ramesh Chand Bose (supra) is erroneous where the High
Court lays down that the heirs of the deceased tenant succeed as
ktenants in common. In our opinion, the notice under s. 106 of the
Transfer of Property Act served by the appellant on the respondent is
a valid notice and therefore the suit must succeed.
In the result, the appeal is allowed, the judgment and decree of
the High Court are set aside and the judgment and decree of the First
Appellate Court are restored. There is no order as to costs.
E
(
P.S.S.
Appeal allowed.
p