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TMI Blog2020 (3) TMI 906X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the State of West Bengal. It is a government company as defined under Section 617 of the Companies Act, 1956. The entire shareholding of the Corporation is held by the State Government and/or its nominees. The Directors appointed by the Corporation are the nominees of the State Government. The other appellants are the functionaries of the first appellant Corporation. 4. Registered small-scale industries apply to the Corporation for allotment of industrial plots which are allotted at concessional rates to assist the small-scale industries to set up factories and to operate thereon. The Corporation acts as an arm of the State Government in providing industrial plots to small-scale industries. Whenever an allottee remains a nonstarter or its production closes down, after giving reasonable opportunity to restart/ reopen, the plots of land and in some cases the structures, are resumed by the Corporation. The resumed plots/structures thereafter are re-allotted to other small-scale industries which are in the waitlist. 5. Bengal Potteries Limited, a company registered under the Companies Act, owned land with factory standing thereon situated at Tangra in the city of Calcutta. The comp ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rmination was violation of clauses 2(c) and (g) of the lease deed, i.e. for not taking steps for construction of the factory building. By the said notice, respondent No.1 was directed to vacate the premises within 30 days. 10. Respondent No.1 preferred an appeal before the Managing Director of the Corporation, who is the designated Appellate Authority against the order of the prescribed authority. 11. While the appeal was pending, respondent Nos. 1 and 2 filed the writ petition in the High Court seeking, inter alia, setting aside of the termination notice dated 09.11.2013. The Appellate Authority by order dated 16.01.2014, upheld the order of the prescribed authority. By this order, respondent No.1 was asked to vacate the plots in question by 15.02.2014. 12. Being aggrieved by the order of the Appellate Authority, respondent No.1 filed a general application in the pending writ petition, inter alia, seeking to set aside and/or quash the order of the Appellate Authority dated 16.01.2014. 13. The learned Single Judge, considering the writ petition along with general application, passed ad-in-terim order restraining the Corporation from taking any steps for eviction of the writ ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ) of the Act. Secondly, it is contended that the premises which is the subject matter of this appeal is not covered under the provisions of the Act. Bare land was leased out by the Corporation to respondent No.1. The said plot of land did not contain any structure. The expression "any premises" in Section 2(a) would by itself be wide enough to cover even bare land but since the term "premises" is defined in Section 2(c) of the Act, that definition would have to be inserted into the expression "Government premises" in Section 2(a). Otherwise, there would be repugnancy between Sections 2(a) and 2(c), which is to be avoided. Therefore, he prays for dismissal of the appeal. 18. Before considering the rival contentions of the parties, let us find out the object and purpose of the Act. Normally, the rights of the lessor and the lessee and the incidence of tenancy are governed by the Transfer of Property Act, 1882. The provision relating to termination of tenancy in case of breach of the conditions of the lease and recovery of possession from the lessee under the Transfer of Property Act is very time-consuming. Even, the execution of decree for possession is a complicated and time-consu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... interest; (c) "premises" means any building or hut and includes part of a building or hut and a seat in a room, let separately, and also includes, (i) the gardens, grounds and outhouses, if any, appurtenant thereto, (ii) any furniture supplied or any fittings or fixtures affixed for the use of the tenant in such building, hut or seat in, as the case may be." 21. In the present case, the premises in question are not owned by the government. It is owned by the appellant-Corporation, which is a government company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956. Therefore, the first question for consideration is whether the Corporation can be regarded as a "Government undertaking" so as to attract the applicability of the provisions of the Act in respect of the premises held by it. 22. It is an admitted position that the Corporation is registered under the Companies Act, 1956. The Corporation is under the administrative control of the State Government and almost all the shares of the Corporation, are held by the State Government, apart from a few shares which are held by IAS officers in their official capacity. It owes its status as a body corporate to the Companies Act enacted ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... building or a part of it or a hut or a part of it but also includes a seat in a room, let separately, and also includes the gardens, grounds and outhouses, if any, appurtenant thereto together with the furniture, all fittings and fixtures provided for the use of the tenant in such building, hut or a seat in a room let separately. Thus, when a seat in a room of a Government premises is let out to a tenant, certainly it will be a Government premises. Again, if a seat in a room is let out together with the gardens; grounds and outhouses, if any, appurtenant to a seat in a room, such tenancy will be of a "Government premises". 26. The point for consideration before us is when neither a building nor a part of the building nor a hut nor a part of the hut nor a seat in a room is let out to a tenant but only bare land is let out to a tenant, can such tenancy be regarded as relating to a "Government premises" to attract the provisions of the Act. The expression "includes" is used in two places of the definition of "premises" in Section 2(c) and the expression "includes" which was used for the second time in the said definition without any doubt was included to expand the ambit of "Govern ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... not contain any structures. If the bare land is let out by the government undertaking and it continues to be a bare land as on the date of initiation of eviction proceedings, the incidence of such tenancy cannot be governed by the provisions of the Act and such a tenant cannot be evicted by taking aid of the provisions of the Act. The material date is the date of initiation of the eviction proceedings. Had respondent No.1 put up the construction on the plots of land leased to it, and if the eviction is sought under Section 3 of the Act for violation of some other clauses of the lease deed or upon satisfaction of the conditions mentioned in subsections (1) and (2) of Section 3, the proceedings would have been maintainable. As noted above, the subject matter of this appeal continues to be a bare land as on the date of initiation of the proceedings. 30. Learned Senior Counsel for the appellants has laid emphasis on the fact that the plots leased to respondent No.1 were a part of the larger premises which included office building etc. and that the plots leased cannot be treated separately since it is a part of larger plot of land including building. The entirety of the land as well ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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