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Issues Involved:
1. Authority of a statutory tenant to assign tenancy rights. 2. Interpretation of Section 15(1) of the Bombay Rent Act. 3. Applicability of the proviso to Section 15(1) to statutory tenants. 4. Relevance of the Supreme Court judgments in Anand Nivas Pvt. Ltd. v. Anandji and Damadilal v. Parashram. Summary: Issue 1: Authority of a Statutory Tenant to Assign Tenancy Rights The primary question was whether a statutory tenant, Gopalkrishna, could validly assign his tenancy rights to the plaintiff, Pujari. The court held that a statutory tenant possesses only a right to remain in possession and does not hold any transferable or heritable estate or interest in the premises. This view was affirmed by the Supreme Court in Anand Nivas Pvt. Ltd. v. Anandji, which stated that statutory tenants cannot transfer their tenancy rights. Issue 2: Interpretation of Section 15(1) of the Bombay Rent Act The court examined whether the assignment of tenancy rights could be valid under the proviso to Section 15(1) of the Bombay Rent Act. It was concluded that Section 15(1) and its proviso apply only to contractual tenants and not to statutory tenants. The statutory tenant's tenancy is per se not transferable, and the prohibition against transfer and assignment under Section 15(1) does not apply to them. Issue 3: Applicability of the Proviso to Section 15(1) to Statutory Tenants The court rejected the argument that the proviso to Section 15(1) could validate the assignment by a statutory tenant. The proviso and Sub-section (2) of Section 15 were found to be applicable only to contractual tenants. This interpretation was affirmed by a larger Bench of the Supreme Court in J. S. Murarji v. Sovani. Issue 4: Relevance of Supreme Court Judgments The court analyzed the conflicting views in Anand Nivas Pvt. Ltd. v. Anandji and Damadilal v. Parashram. It was held that the decision in Anand Nivas case, which states that statutory tenants have no transferable interest, remains binding. The court found that the interpretation of Sections 12 and 15 of the Bombay Rent Act in Anand Nivas case was not overruled by Damadilal's case, which dealt with the heritability of statutory tenancy under a different enactment. Conclusion: The court concluded that the assignment of tenancy rights by the statutory tenant, Gopalkrishna, to the plaintiff, Pujari, was not valid and effective. Consequently, the plaintiff's suit was dismissed, and the landlord's petition was allowed. The rule was made absolute with costs throughout.
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