# THE CANTONMENT BOARD, AMBALA v. PYARELAL

- **Citation:** [1965] 3 S.C.R. 341
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1965-03-12
- **Bench:** K. N. Wanchoo, J. R. Mudholkar, Ands. M. Sikri
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/the-cantonment-board-ambala-v-pyarelal-3492
- **Pages:** 13

## Headnote

Cantonments Act (2 of 1924), ss. 256, 257 and 259-Scope of.
311
In 1954, the words "rent on land or buildings" were added to
s. 250 of the Cantonments Act, 1924. After the amendment, the appellant (Cantonment Board), applied under the section to the concern·
ed Magistrate, for realisation of arrears of rent from the respondent,
on the basis of a lease in his favour. The Magistrate issued warrants
for attachment of the movable property of the respondent. The respondent went in revision to the Sessions Judge. He made a reference
to the High Court and the High Court set aside the Magistrate's
order. In its appeal to the Supreme Ccurt, the appellant contended
that, upon a correct interpretation of the section, the Magistrate had
the power to order the recovery of rent due to the appellant.
HELD : (Per Wanchoo and Sikri JJ.): The rent was not claimable by the appellant under the Act or the Rules but only under the
lease in favour of the respondent. Therefore, s. 259(1), in so far as it
refers to recovery of such rent by application to Magistrate, would
not apply.
In view of the provisions of the Act, Ca!ltonment Property Rules,
1925, and the Cantonment Land Administration Rules, 1937, a Cantonment Board has power, to manage the lands or buildings vested in it
or entrusted to its management, to lease them out and to fix rents
therefor. But s. 259 can be utilised for realisation of arrears of rent
on land and buildings, only if such rent is recoverable by a Board
or a Military Estates Officer under the Act or the Rules made thereunder. The word "recoverable" means "claimable". Section 257 read
with s. 256 is an example of the Bo;rd's power to claim rent from
the tenant of an owner. There may be other such cases, and it is only
in those cases, where the Act or the Rules, in terms, make the rent
on land and buildings claimable by the Board, that the section will
apply. But where the liability arises purely on the basis of a lease
between the Board and the tenant, nothing in the Act or the Rules,
particularly after r. 42 which provided for such recovery had been
repealed, makes such rent claimable by the Board under the Act or
the Rules. Since the repeal was in 1940 before the section was amended, it cannot be argued that the rule was repealed because of the
amendment of the section. [344 F-H; 346 F-H]
The view taken, however, would not affect the right of the Board
to recover by suit, under the general law, rent of its land and buildings given by it on lei'se. [347 B]
Per Mudholkar, J. (dissenting): The High Court was in error
in setting aside the order of the Magistrate.
What the expression "recoverable by a Board or a Military
Estates Officer under the Act or the Rules made thereunder," in s. 259
means is, what the Act or the Rules permit the Board to recover, or
what the Act or the Rules permit the Military Estates Officer to recover. The words "recoverable by" and "under this Act of the Rules
made thereunder." are meant to govern "a
Board" or "a Military
Estates Officer." Thus under the section the power to recover money
is exercisable by such of these two authorities as performs the duty
or exercises the power by reason of which the liability of another
342
SUPREME COUR'r REPORTS
(1965] 3 s.c.R.
to pay the tax, rent or.any other money arises. Powers are conferred
upon a Board under the Act read with the Cantonment Land Administration Rules, 1937. to let out property vested in it or which is
under its management. Where, in exercise of those powers the Board
has let out any land or buildings, it has the right as well as the duty
to collect the rent from the tenant. Therefore, where the liability to
pay money arises against a person, by reason of something done by
the Board or the Military Estates Officer, in exercise of a power or
the performance of a duty under the Act, that liability can be enforced by the authority concerned, either by instituting a suit or by
making an application to a Magistrate. But if the word "rent" is
conf

## Text

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THE CANTONMENT BOARD, AMBALA
v.
PYARELAL
March 12, 1965
[K. N. WANCHOO, J. R. MUDHOLKAR, ANDS. M. SIKRI, JJ.)
Cantonments Act (2 of 1924), ss. 256, 257 and 259-Scope of.
311
In 1954, the words "rent on land or buildings" were added to
s. 250 of the Cantonments Act, 1924. After the amendment, the appellant (Cantonment Board), applied under the section to the concern·
ed Magistrate, for realisation of arrears of rent from the respondent,
on the basis of a lease in his favour. The Magistrate issued warrants
for attachment of the movable property of the respondent. The respondent went in revision to the Sessions Judge. He made a reference
to the High Court and the High Court set aside the Magistrate's
order. In its appeal to the Supreme Ccurt, the appellant contended
that, upon a correct interpretation of the section, the Magistrate had
the power to order the recovery of rent due to the appellant.
HELD : (Per Wanchoo and Sikri JJ.): The rent was not claimable by the appellant under the Act or the Rules but only under the
lease in favour of the respondent. Therefore, s. 259(1), in so far as it
refers to recovery of such rent by application to Magistrate, would
not apply.
In view of the provisions of the Act, Ca!ltonment Property Rules,
1925, and the Cantonment Land Administration Rules, 1937, a Cantonment Board has power, to manage the lands or buildings vested in it
or entrusted to its management, to lease them out and to fix rents
therefor. But s. 259 can be utilised for realisation of arrears of rent
on land and buildings, only if such rent is recoverable by a Board
or a Military Estates Officer under the Act or the Rules made thereunder. The word "recoverable" means "claimable". Section 257 read
with s. 256 is an example of the Bo;rd's power to claim rent from
the tenant of an owner. There may be other such cases, and it is only
in those cases, where the Act or the Rules, in terms, make the rent
on land and buildings claimable by the Board, that the section will
apply. But where the liability arises purely on the basis of a lease
between the Board and the tenant, nothing in the Act or the Rules,
particularly after r. 42 which provided for such recovery had been
repealed, makes such rent claimable by the Board under the Act or
the Rules. Since the repeal was in 1940 before the section was amended, it cannot be argued that the rule was repealed because of the
amendment of the section. [344 F-H; 346 F-H]
The view taken, however, would not affect the right of the Board
to recover by suit, under the general law, rent of its land and buildings given by it on lei'se. [347 B]
Per Mudholkar, J. (dissenting): The High Court was in error
in setting aside the order of the Magistrate.
What the expression "recoverable by a Board or a Military
Estates Officer under the Act or the Rules made thereunder," in s. 259
means is, what the Act or the Rules permit the Board to recover, or
what the Act or the Rules permit the Military Estates Officer to recover. The words "recoverable by" and "under this Act of the Rules
made thereunder." are meant to govern "a
Board" or "a Military
Estates Officer." Thus under the section the power to recover money
is exercisable by such of these two authorities as performs the duty
or exercises the power by reason of which the liability of another
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SUPREME COUR'r REPORTS
(1965] 3 s.c.R.
to pay the tax, rent or.any other money arises. Powers are conferred
upon a Board under the Act read with the Cantonment Land Administration Rules, 1937. to let out property vested in it or which is
under its management. Where, in exercise of those powers the Board
has let out any land or buildings, it has the right as well as the duty
to collect the rent from the tenant. Therefore, where the liability to
pay money arises against a person, by reason of something done by
the Board or the Military Estates Officer, in exercise of a power or
the performance of a duty under the Act, that liability can be enforced by the authority concerned, either by instituting a suit or by
making an application to a Magistrate. But if the word "rent" is
confined to money due under some express provision of the Act or
Rules, it will lead to the curious result, that, in respect of land or
buildings under the management of the Board, neither remedy would
be available-though the claim for rent is ultimately traceable to
those provisions of the Act and the Rules which empower the Beard
to let out the land or buildings-upon the ground that it cannot be
said to be claimable or recoverable under any express provision of
the Act. [350 C-E; 351F; 351 G-H]
Further, if the meaning of the word "rent" is so restricted, that
word itself would be rendered otiose, because, there is no provision
whatsoever in the Act which expressly makes rent claimable or recoverable by e;ther of the two authorities specified ·therein. What the
Board recovers under ss. 256 and 257 cannot be regarded as rent,
giving the word its dictionary meaning, for, the Board is not the
landlord of the occupier, and what it recovers from him, is not something which was due to the Board as rent .from him., [352 E-G].
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURlSDICTION: Criminal Appeal 151 of
1963.
Appeal by spec;al leave from the judgment and order dated
March 27, 1962 of the Punjab High Court in Criminal Revision
No. 1137 or 1961.
Gopal Singh, for the appellant.
The respondent did not appear.
The Judgment of Wanchoo and Sikri JJ. was delivered by
Wanchoo J. Mudholkar J. delivered a dissenting opinion.
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Wanchoo, J .. This appeal by special leave raises the question
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of the interpretation of s. 259 of the Cantonments Act, No. 11 of
1924, (hereinafter referred to as the Act). The respondent was a
tenant of the appellant. An ai;pl'cation was made by the Cantonment Executive Officer, Ambala, on January 7, 1960, for realisation of a sum of Rs. 649.50 from the respondent under s. 259 of
the Act on the ground that the amount was due as arrears of rent
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on the basis of a lease in favour of the respondent. The respondent
apparently questioned the jurisdiction of the magistrate to realise
the amount. The magistrate held that he had jurisdiction and issued warrants for attachment of the movable property of the respondent on June 13, 1961. Thereupon the respondent went in revision to the Sess;ons Judge Ambala contending that the magistrate
had no jurisdiction to realise the arrears of rent due under a lease
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CANTONMENT llOARD AM BALA v. PY ARELAL ( w anchoo, J.)
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under s. 259 of the Act and in any case that could not be done
without taking into account the objections of the respondent. The
Sessions Judge following certain earlier decisions of the Lahore
High Court took the view that rent under a lease could not be recovered under s. 259 of the Act and made a reference to the High
Court under s. 439 of the Code of Cr;minal Procedure. The High
Court heard the reference and accepted the view of the Sessions
Judge and set aside the order of the magistrate dated June 13, 1961.
The High Court having refused the certificate, the appellant obtained special leave from this Court; and that is how the matter has
come up before us.
Two questions have been raised by learned counsel for the
appellant in this appeal. In the first place, he urges that the magistrate when he is acting under s. 259 of the Act is a persona designata and therefore his order is not revisable under ss. 435 i 439 of
the Code of the Criminal Procedure. The Sessions Judge and the
High Court therefore had no jurisdiction to
interfere with that
order under ss. 435 I 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Secondly, it is urged that the v'ew taken by the High Court that
arrears of rent due under a lease cannot be recovered under s. 259
of the Act is incorrect.
The question as to the jurisd'ction of the Sessions Judge and
High Court was never raised before the appeal in this Court.
Learned counsel, however, relies on the Dargah Committee, Aimer
v. State of Rajasthan (') in support of his contention that the
magistrate acting under s. 259 of the Act acts as a persona designata and therefore his order under that section is not revisable
under ss. 435 / 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Sessions Judge and the High Court had no jurisdiction under those
provisions to interfere with -such an order. The case cited on behalf
of the appellant certainly supports the contention put forward; but
in the circumstances of this case we are not prepared to allow this
contention to be raised at this ·stage. It is true that a question of
jurisdiction, not depending upon facts to be investigated, can be
allowed to be raised at any stage. Ordinarily if we were satisfied
that the High Court had no jurisdict:on at all to interfere we would
have allowed this cuestion to be raised even at this late stage. But
we are of opinion that though the High Court may not have jurisdiction to interfere under ss. 435 I 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure it could certainly interfere w'th the order of the magistrate
under Art. 227 of the Constitution. Now if this point had been
raised before the High Court it may very well be that the High
Court might have considered the reference as if it was an application before it under Art. 227 of the Const'tution, in which case the
High Court would have jurisdiction to interfere with the order or
the magi.strate if it came to the conclusion that the magistrate had
(') [I962J 2 s.c.R. 265.
SuPREME COURT REPORTS
(1965] 3 S.C.R.
no jurisdiction in. such circumstances under s. 259 of the Act. In
these circumstances we are not prepared to permit the appellant
to raise this point before us at this late stage.
This brings us to the interpretation of s. 259 of the Act as it
stood after ame'!dment by Act II of 1954. The relevant part of the
section now reads as follows: -
"Notwithstanding anything elsewhere contained in this
Act, arrears of any tax, rent on land and buildings and
:my other money recoverable by a Board or a M;litary
Estate Officer under this Act or the rules made thereunder
may be recovered together with the cost of recovery
either by a suit or. on application to a Magi~trate having
jurisdiction in the cantonment or in any place where the
person from whom such tax, rent or money is recoverable
may for the time being be residing, by the distress and
sale of any movable property of, or stand'ng timber, or
growing crop belonging to such person which is within
the limits of such magistrate's jurisdiction, and shall if
payable by the owner of any property as such, be a charge
on the property until paid; provided.
(2)
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The first question that arises is whether rent on land and bu'ldings mentioned· in the sect'on is governed by the words "recoverable by a Board or a Militarv Estates Offioer under this Act or
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the rules made thereunder". There is no doubt that "any tax" and
"any other money" mentioned in the section are governed by the
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words "recoverable by a Board etc." It seems to us that the words
"rent on land and buildings" wh'ch appear between the words
"any tax" and "any other money" must equally be governed by
the words "recoverable by a Board etc." Therefore the provisions
of s. 259 of the Act can be utilised for realisation of arrears of
rent on land and buildings onlv if such rent is recoverable by a
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Board or a Militarv Estates Officer under the Act or the rules
made thereunder. The word "recoverable" in the context obviously means "claimable". for s. 259 itself provides for the manner of
recovery. Therefore action for recovery can be taken under s. 259
w'th respect to rent on land and buildings provided such rent is
claimable by a Board under the Act or the rules framed thereunH
der. This view was taken by the Lahore High Court in Banarsi Das
v. Cantonment Authority Ambala Cantonment(') and is in our
opinion correct. It may be added that in 1938. the words "rent on
land and buildings" and •'Under the rules" did not appear in s. 259 .
. Even so. the Lahore High Court fook the view with respect to the
section as 't then stood that the money to be recovered under s. 259
must be claimable by the Board under the Act.
(1) A.LR. 1933 Lah. 517.
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CANTONMENT BOARD AMBALA v. PYARELAL (Wanchoo, J.)
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The next question that arises is whether "rent on land and
buildings" on lease can be said to be claimable by the Board
"under the Act or the rules. made thereunder". It is urged on behalf of the appellant that cl. (p) of s. 116 of the Act provides for
"maintaining and developing the value of property vested in, or
entrusted to the management of the Board'', ands. 116-A gives the
Board power to manage any property entrusted to its management
by the Central Government on such terms as to the sharing of
rents and profits accruing from such property as may be determined by rule. Further reliance is placed on the Cantonment Property
Rules, 1925. Rule .8 thereof provides that immovable property
which vests in and belongs to the Cantonment Authority may be
leased by the Cantonment Authority without a premium on the
condition that a reasonable rent is reserved and made payable
during the whole term of the lease and that the lease or the agreement for the lease is not made without the previous sanction of the
Cantonment Authority by resolut'on at a general meeting, or the
Officer Commanding in Chief of the Command or the Government
of India as the case may be. It is urged that these provisions of the
Act and the Rules show that the Board has the power to claim
rent .thereunder in respect of the leased property. Reliance is
further placed on the Cantonment Land Administration Rules 1937
which provide how rents would be fixed when land is leased out
by the Cantonment Authority. Rule 4 of these Rules prov'des for
classification of land and r. 8 for standard table of rents; r. 9 (6)
vests the management of class 'C' land in the Board; r. 26 provides
for disposal of land by private agreement; r. 28 for execution of
leases, rr. 29 and 30 for maintenance of grants registers of building sites; r. 31 for leases for special periods and on special terms;
r. 32 for agricultural land leases; r. 34 for record of agricultural
leases; r. 35 for execution of agr'cultural leases·; r. 37 for leases for
miscellaneous purposes and r. 41 for special conditions in leases.
lt may be mentioned that originally there was a rule (r.42) in these
terms:-
"Recovery of arrears-All arrears of rent and other
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payment under these rules together with interest on such
arreas at the rate of seven and a half per cent per annum
from the date when they become due to the date of their
realisation, shall, on the application of the person spec'fied in sub-section (2) of section 259 of the Act, or of the
Military Estates Officers, as the case may be, recoverable
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in the manner provided in that section."
That rule however no longer exists as it was repealed in 1940.
There is no doubt that in view of the provisions of the Act,
the Property Rules and the Land Administration Rules to which
we have referred above, the Board has the power to manage lands
l'J A r R. 19~~ tali . .517,
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
(1965) 3 B.C.R,
and Buildings vested in ;t or entrusted to its management, lease
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them out and fix rents therefor. But the right of the. Board to
claim the rent on land and buildings does not arise from these provisions under the Act ljnd the Rules referred to above. The right of
the Board to claim rent only arises after the execution of the lease.
Therefore rent on land and buildings is not claimable by the Board
under the provisions of the Act or the Property Rules or the Land
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Adm'nistration Rules but under the lease. It follows therefore that
s. 259 (I) cannot be applied to a simple case of money due to the
Board on a contract of lease.
It is however urged on behalf of the appellant that the words
"rent on land and buildings" which were added by the 1954c
Amendment refer to something of that kind which is recoverable
under s. 259 as ,atherwise the amendment would be meaningless.
That is undoubtedly so. We find however, that s. 256 provides that
in the event of. non-compliance with the terms of any notice, order
or requisit'on issued to any person under this Act, or any rule or
bye-law made thereunder, requiring such person to execute any
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work or to do any act. it shall be lawful for the Cantonment Authority after giving notice in writing to such person, to take such action
or such steps as may he necessary for the completion of the act or
work required to be done or executed by him, and all the expenrcs
incurred on such account shall be recoverable by the Cantonment
Authority. Section 257 then provides that if any such notice as is
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.referred to in s. 256 has been given to any person in respect of
property of which he is the owner. the Cantonment Authority may
require any occupier of such property or of any part thereof to
pay to it, instead of to the owner, any rent payable by him in respect of such property, as it falls due, upto the amount recoverable
from the owner under s. 256 and it further provides that any
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amount recovered from any occupier ;nstead of from an owner
under sub-s. (I) shall. in the absence of any contract between the
owner and the occupier to the contrary, be deemed to have been
paid to the owner. Here at any rate we have an example of the
Board's power to claim rent from a tenant of an owner under s. 257
of the Act read with s. 256. So it cannot be said that there is no
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case where the Act does not provide for claim of rent by the Board.
We may add that there may be other cases like this either under
the Act or under the Rules. In our view it is in such cases where
the Act or the Rules in terms make the rent on land and build'ngs
claimable by the Board. that s. 259 will apply. But where the liability to pay rent arises purely on the basis of a lease between the
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Board and the tenant. nothing in the Act or the Rules has been
brought to our notice, particularly after r. 42 referred to above has
been repealed, which makes such rent claimable by the Board under
the Act.or the Rules. We may add r. 42 was repealed long before
1954 when the words "rent on land and buildings" came ins. 259.
So it cannot be argued that the omiss'on of r. 42 was due to the
amendment of 1954.
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CANtONMENT BOARD AMBALAV. PYARELAL (Muahclbr, J.)
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It is urged that the section provides for recovery by suit also
and as such it will not be possible for the Board to recover rent of
land and buildings let out by it even by suit if the rent in the section refers only to rent directly claimable under the Act or the
Rules. This jg clearly 'ncorrect. The section does not bar the right
of the Board as an owner or holder of land and buildings to take
action for recovery of rent thereof by suit under the general law of
the land. Further by providing for recovery of rent of the
kind
we
have indicated above by suit or by application
rent of the kind we have indicated above by suit or by application .
to a magistrate the section does not affect the right of the Board
to rec~ver rent of its land and buildings by suit for such rents are
entirely outs'de the section and the right of the Board under the
general law of the lc;nd is not taken away by the section. It may be
that the s~ction provided for recovery by suit as an alternat:ve as
a matter of ab·1ndant caution to avoid an argument that the application to a magistrHe w~s the only means open to the Board for
recovery of sums covered by the ·section. In any case the view we are
taking will not affect the right of the Board to recover by suit
under the general law rent of its land and build'ngs given on lease.
In the circumstances we agree with the High Court that the
rent in this case was not claimable by the Board under the Act or
the Rules but only under the lease in favour of the respondent.
Therefore s. 259 (!) insofar as it refers to recovery of such rent by
application to a magistrate will not apply.
In the circumstances the appeal fails and is hereby dismissed.
Mudholkar, J. The question which falls for a determination in
this appeal is whether under s. 259 of the Cantonment Act. No. II
of 1924 '1 ent' on land or buildings under the management of the
Cantonment Board can be recovered thereunder by a Magistrate.
This question was raised by the respondent in a revision application made by him before the Sessions Judge under s. 435 of the
Code of Criminal Procedure· against the order of the Magistrate,
II Class, made under the afo~esaid prov'sion upon an application
made to him by the Executive Officer, Ambala Cantonment for the
recovery of Rs. 649.50 nP being the arrears of rent alleged to be
due from the respondent to the Cantonment Board. The learned
Sessions Judge made a reference to the High Court under s. 438
of the Code of Crimiml Procedure on the ~uthority of the decisions in Municipal Committee, Delhi v. Hafiz Abdullah(') and
Gurandit1a Ma' v. Em.?eror ('). The High Court. after referring to
these cases and to Banarsi Das v. Cantonment Authority, A mba/a
Cantonment(') accented the reference and set aside the order of
the Magistrate. By special leave the Cantonment Board has come
up to this Court in <!ppeal
{t) ,\.I l"t
u1·i Lall G'.10
111.) A.IR. T 8 ~.'th. ~\l.
(~J A.1.!L
(~:t;~ J,nh. ; J.
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SUPREME COURT REl'ORTS
[1965) 3 s.C.R.
. Two points were.urged by Mr. Gopal Singh appearing for the
appellant. The first is that the proceeding before the Magistrate
was not one under the Code of Criminal Procedure (Ind, therefore,
neither could a reference be made by the Sessions Judge to the
High Court under s. 438. Cr. P.C. nor could an order be made by
the High Court under s. 439. The second point is that upon a correct interpretation of s. 259 of the Act the Magistrate had the
power to recover the rent due to the appellant in the manner provided for in the section. We did not .allow the first contention to
be raised for two reasons. In the first place the point was not raised
in the High Court and in the second place it would not be fair to
the respondent who is ex parte to have the appeal decided upon a
new ground altogether.
In· so far as the second point is concerned it seems to me that
the contention of Mr. Gopal S;ngh is correct and that the High
Court was in error in setting aside the order of the Magistrate. The
two cases upon which reliance was placed before the High Court
arose unaer s. lSI of the Punjab Municipal Act (Ill of 1911) whicll
runs thus:
"Any arrears of any tax, water-rate, rent, fee or any
other money claimable by a committee under this Act
may be recovered on an application to a Magistrate."
According to the Lahore High Court the operat;on of this section
was controlled by the words "claimable by a committee under this
Act" and that it was not any sum that could be described as rent
or fee which could be recovered under summary provisions of that
section. According to that High Court only a sum that was claimable by the Committee under the express provisions of that Act
could be recovered by resort to summary procedure provided by
that section. In Banarsi Das's case(') it was similarly held that the
expression "recoverable by the Cantonment Authority under the
Act" did not include money due under an ordinary contract between the Cantonment Authority and others and that s. 259 of the
Act applied only to such monies as were recoverable by that authority under express provisions of the Act. It is this last decision
which was relied upon by the High Court and it pointed out that
though the word rent did noJ occur in s. 259 of the Act as it stood
when Banarsi Das's case(') was decided the introduction of that
word had not altered the position in so far as recovery of rent is
concerned.
Section 259 of the Act as it now stands runs thus:
"Notwithstanding anything elsewhere contained in this
Act, arrears of any tax, rent on land and buildings and
any other money recoverable by a Board or a Military
Estates Officer under this Act or the rules made thereunder may be recovered together with the cost of recovery
(') A.LR. 1938 L,h. 517.
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CANrONMENTBOARD AMBALAV. PYARELAL(Mudhdkar,J.)
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either by a suit or on application to a Magistrate having
jurisdiction in the cantonment or ;n any place where the
person from whom such tax, rent or money is recoverable
may for the time being be residing, by the distress and
sale of 11ny movable property of, or standing timber or
growing crop belonging to such person which is within the
limits of such magistrate's jurisdiction, and shall, if payable by the owner of any property as such, be a charge on
the property until paid for."
Then there is a proviso which need not be guoted. The aforesaid
section deals with "Method of recovery". It sets out two methods:
one is institution of a suit and the other is making of an application to a Magistrate. Therefore, where rent of land or building
under the; management of the Cantonment Authority falls to be
recovered resort could be had either to a suit or to summary, proceeding as provided in the section. But if the expression "rent" is
confined to money due under some express provision of the Act it
will lead to a curious result. Thus in respect of rent of land or
buildings under the management of the
Board ne'ther remedy
would be available-though the claim for the rent is ultimately ·
traceable to those provisions of the Act and the Rules which empower the Board to let out the land or buildings--upon the ground
that it cannot be said to be claimable or recoverable under any
express provision of the Act. Surely the Legislature could never
have meant that even a suit for recovery of rent would be maintainable at the ;nstance of the Board only if it was for the purpose
of recovery of rent from a tenant who was liable under an express
provision of the Act or the Rules to pay rent to the Board. Under
ss. 116 and l 16A of the Act. read along with Cantonment Land
Administration Rules, 1937, the Cantonment Board is entrusted
with certain duties and is empowered to do certain acts in relation
to the Cantonment property under its management. It is the duty
of the Board. among other things, to mainta;n and develop the
property vested in or entrusted to its management. Section 116-A
provides as follows:
"A Board may, subject to any conditions imposed by
the Central Government, manage any property entrusted
to its management by the Central Government on such
terms as to the sharing of rents and profits accruing from
such propertv as may be determined by rules made under
section 280."
The Cantonment Land Administration Rules, 1937 contain detailed provisions as to the leasing of land, standardisation of rents,
disnosal of land bv a private agreement. execution of leases etc.
Powers are thus conferred upon the Board to let out property vested in it or which is under ;ts manageme!"lt. It would follow from
this that where in exercise of these powers the Bo~rd has let out
anv land or buildings it has the right as well as the duty to collect
the rent from the tenant. Therefore, though, strictly speaking, the
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350
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1965] 3 S.C.R.
rent due from the tenant cannot be said to be payable under any
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express provision of the Act the tenant's liability to pay and the
Board's right to recover it is ultimately traceable to the Act inasmuch as this liability has arisen by reason of tlie exercise of a
power exercised or performance of duty by the Board under express provisions of the Act and the Rules. Surely the Board cannot be deprived of the right to recover the rent or be absolved
B
from the duty to recover it by resort to the normal remedy of suit.
Yet upon the interpretation placed upon s. 259 of the Act by the
Lahore High Court and by the Court below a suit as well as a proceeiing before a Magistrate have to be placed on the same foot;ng.
This will lead to an impossible position and it cannot for one
moment be thought that this is what the Legislature had intended.
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What the expression "recoverable by a Board or the Military
Estates Officer under this Act or the rules made thereunder" means
is what the Act or the Rules permit the Board to recover or what
the Act or the Rules permit the M;litary Estates Officer tci recover.
To put it in another way the words "recoverable by" and "under
this Act or the Rules made thereunder" are meant to govern "a
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Board" or "a Military Estates Officer". It was necessary to make
this provision because certain duties are imposed and powers conferred on the Board and certain other duties imposed and powers
conferred upon the Military Estates Officer and the section makes
it clear that the power to recover money is exerc;.sable by such of
these two authozities as performs the duty or exercises the power
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by reason of which the liability of another to pay the tax, rent or
any other money arises.
In support of- the view which I have expressed I may refer to
a decision of the Court of Appeal in Tideway Investment and Property Hddings Ld. v. Wel/wood ('). There one of the questions
which had to be considered related to award;ng costs to the successful plaintiffs who were the landlords of the defendants. The
suit was brought in the High Court and the plaintiffs contended
that since the <lefendants have committed a breach of the provisions of the lease they had forfeited it and, therefore, were entitled
to possession on forfeiture as also to damages for breach of the
contract contained in the lease. The defendants cla;med protection
·of the Rent Acts and Harman J., who heard the case held that the
lease having already expired there could be no forfeiture and the
tenant who was holding over became a statutory tenant entitled to
ihe protection of the Rent Acts. Evershed M. R., however, said
that the tenant became a trespasser or a statutory tenant and that
the breach of the convenant was a continuing one .. Therefore, he
said, it was plain that all claims arising out of the breach of the
convenant and consisting primar'ly of a claim for possession must
be regarded as arising out of or under the Rent Restriction Act,
1920. Harman J., also held that the claim must be regarded as
(') [l 952] l Ch. 971.
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CANTO~ME~l' BOARD AMDALA v. PYARE'-AL (Mudhelkar, .!.)
351
claims under the Rent Act and s. 17(2) precluded him from awarding costs to the successful plaintiffs. Section 17 (2) reads th us:
"A county court shall have jurisdiction to deal with
any claim or other proceedings ar'sing out of this Act or
any of the provisions thereof, notwithstanding that by
reason of the amount of claim or otherwise the case
would not but for this provision be within the jurisdiction
of a county court, and, if a person takes• proceedings
under this Act in the H;gh Court which he could have
taken in the county court, he shall not be entitled to recover any costs."
The Master of the Rolls, with whom the other Lords Justices agreed,
took the same view as Harman J. It may be mentioned that the suit
was not instituted under any specific provision of the Rent Acts
and the claim for possession was based on the breach of a covenant in the lease which the Court of Appeal treated as a ~ontinuing
one and yet was treated as one under the Rent Restr'ction Act,
1922 because of the defence raised. This case thus illustrates that
an expression such a·s the one found in s. 259 of the Act must be
construed liberally and not narrowly. In
Stroud's Judicial Dictionary, Vol. I, an Australian case, Winstone v. Wurlitz.er Automatic Phonograph Co. of Australia Pty Ltd. (') on which could not
lay my hands is cited. There it was held that 'authorise' should be
read in its ordinary sense of sanction, approve or countenance. I
do not think that there is any substantial difference between
"Authorised by the Act" and "under the Act".
It would, therefore, be not right to construe the section in
the way it was construed by the court below. On the other hand
it must be held that where the liability to pay money arises against
a person by reason of something done by the Board or the Military
Estates Officer in exercise of a power or the performance of a duty
under the Act that !'ability can be enforced by the authority concerned either by instituting the suit or by making an application
to a Mag:strate.
Further, if the word 'rent' ins. 259 of the Act were to be given
a restricted meaning that word itself would be rendered otiose because there is no provision whatsoever in the Act wh'ch expressly
makes rent claimable or recoverable by either of the two authorities
specified therein. Our attention was drawn to s. 257(1) which with·
out its proviso reads thus:
"If any such notice as is referred to in section 256 has
been given to any person 'n respect of property of which
he is the owner, the Board may require any occupier of
such property or of any part thereof to pay to it, instead
of to the owner, any rent payable by him in respect of
(') [1946] A.LR. 422.
352
SUl'REME COURT REPORTS
(1965] 3 s.c.R.
such property, as it falls due, up to the amount recoverA
able from the owner under section 256."
It cannot, however, be said that what the .Legislature had in contemplation when it amended s. 259 by
adding the word "rent"
therein was "rent" to which reference is made in s. 257(1). Sect'on
257 is complementary to s. 256. What s. 256 provides is as follows:
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"In the event of non-compliance with the terms of any
notice; order or requisition issued to any person under
this Act, or any rule or bye-law made thereunder, requiring such person to execute any work or to do any act, it
shall be lawful for the Board, whether or not the person
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in default is !'able to punishment for such default or has
been prosecuted or sentenced to any punishment therefor,
after giving notice in writing to such person, to take such
action or such steps as may be necessary for the completion of the ;ict or work required to be done or executed by
him, and all the expenses incurred on such account shall
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be recoverable by the Board."
Therefore, what the Board has the power to recover from the
person is the expenses which it has incurred. One of the modes is
to
proceed
against the occupier of any property belonging
to
the owner thereof and require that occupier to pay
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to the Board instead of to the owner the rent payable by-him to the
owner. What the Board thus recovers from the person cannot
obviously be regarded as rent in so far as the Board is concerned.
For, the Board is not the landlord of the occupier and what it recovers from his is not something which was due to the Board as
rent from him. 'Rent' as commonly understood and as defined in
F
Jowitt's 'Dict'onary of English Law' is a sum of money payable
periodically by a tenant to a landlord as compensation for occupa- ·
tion of a building or land belonging to the landlord. It cannot thus
include money payable by one person to another when they do not
stand in the relationship of tenant and landlord. It is the Dict'onary
meaning which has to be given to the word 'rent' in s. 259. G'ving
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it this meaning it would be clear that what is referred to in s. 257(!)
as rent was not intended to be included in that expression in s. 259.
Apart from s. 257 no other provision has come to our notice
which can support the view of the H'gh Court as to the interpreta·
tion of s. 259. It may be mentioned that before the year 1940 there
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was r. 42 in the Cantonment Land Administration Rules, 1937
which expressly auihorised the Board to recover all arre
0 rs of rent
and "other payments" under the Rules by resorting to s. 259 of
the Act. But that rule was repealed in 1940. It was represented to
us by Mr. Gopal Singh that this was repealed because in view ot
the wide language of s. 259 there was no need felt for the retention
of the rnle. Whatever that may be. the position 's. if I may repeat,
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CANTONMllNTBOARDAMBALA v. PYARELAL(Wanchoo,J.)
353
that if the word rent is given a restricted meaning as has been done
by the High Court, that word would become purposeless. On the
other hand if the expression is interpreted in the way suggested here
it will serve a purpose for which it was intended.
For these reasons I am of the view that the appeal should be
allowed.
ORDER BY COURT
In accordance with op'nion of the majority the appeal is. dis·
missed.