' These are three revision petitions against the order of the Additional Commissioner, Rawalpindi Division, dated 20-5-1977 whereby while disposing of the six appeals filed by the present petitioners against the order of the A. D. C. (C)/Collector, Campbellpur, dated 5-9-1975, he held that para. 25 of the Land Reforms Regulation introduced under Martial Law Regulation No, 115 did not bar the institution of suits in Revenue Courts for the arrears of rent and ejectment of tenants together.
2. As the facts and the point of law involved in these three revision petitions are identical and as these have been filed against one and the same order of the Additional Commissioner, these are being decided by this single order.
3. Briefly the facts of the cases are that landlord-respondents in these three revision petitions brought suits of rent in the Court of Tahsildar/A. C. I. Campbellpur, against the tenant-petitioner for particular crops and as a consequence of the failure of the tenants to pay the rent in accordance with the terms of their tenancies, they further prayed in the suits for ejectment of the tenants. The A.
C. I. Campbellpur, passed the rent decrees, but he dismissed the suit of the respondents for the ejectment of the petitioners vide separate orders, dated 16-5-1975. Against these orders in so far as the Tehsildar/A. C. I. Refused the ejectment of the petitioners, the petitioners preferred appeals before the A. D. C. (C)/Collector, Campbellpur, who ordered the ejectment of the tenants in all the cases and at the same time ordered the payment of compensation of Rs, 1,000 in Suit No, 21/T. A. Of 1975 of village Nathial decided by the A. C. I. On 16-5-1975, on the basis of local Commission's report the A. C./Collector found in the remaining suits that no compensation should be paid to the tenants vide order dated 5-9-1975. Against this order and decrees two appeals; in each were filed by each of the petitioners before the Additional Commissioner, Rawalpindi Division, against the ejectment and against the order passed by him on the point of improvement. The Additional Commissioner disposed of the appeals with the observation that there was no bar to the institution of suits in Revenue Courts for arrears of rent and ejectment of tenants together. He further ordered that the decree sheets should be framed accordingly vide order dated 20-5-1977. Hence these three revision petitions.
4. The counsel, who has appeared on behalf of the counsel for the petitioners, contended that the default in payment of rent itself was no ground for the ejectment of the tenants unless a decree for arrears of rent, in respect of the tenancy having been passed against them, remains unsatisfied in accordance with the procedure laid down in section 44(1) of the Tenancy Act. He further contended that a relief in the same case for a decree of arrears of rent as well as ejectment are bad in law. It was also contended that without following the procedure laid down in the Punjab Tenancy Act the order of ejectment passed by the Collector was illegal and of no effect.
5. The counsel for the respondents contended that para. 25 of Martial Law Regulation No, 115 did not bar the institution of one single suit seeking both the recovery of the arrears of rent as well as the ejectment of the tenant. He prayed that the concurrent findings of the lower Courts be upheld.
6. I have considered the contentions raised by the counsel for the parties. The argument that the provisions of section 44 of the Tenancy Act have not been followed seems to have great force. The provisions of para. 25 of Martial Law Regulation No, 115 lay down the grounds on which a tenant can be ejected. This provision in the Regulation was made to cover the cases of even those tenants who were not occupancy tenants and whose interests had been safeguarded under the Punjab Tenancy Act. Para. 25, therefore, enlarged the scope of protection for the tenants that already existed in the Tenancy Act. It does not render the provisions of A section 44 of the Tenancy Act inoperative and does not introduce a summary procedure for the ejectment of tenants. The purpose of para. 25 was to abolish the distinction between the occupancy tenants and other tenants who were holding land from year to year under the Tenancy Act. Martial Law Regulation No, 115 gave the same right to those tenants as had been D given to the occupancy tenants by the Tenancy Act and as such the cannot be ejected unless they are found to have violated the provisions of para. 25 of Martial Law Regulation No,
115. One of these grounds for ejectment is non- payment of rent/batai. Lt, therefore, follows that before the ejectment can be ordered on the ground of non-payment of rent it has first to be established that default has occurred and that despite notice, the tenants are not prepared to pay the rent in accordance with the provisions laid down in section 44 of the Tenancy Act. It also follows that in case the landlord wants to eject that tenant on the ground that he is a defaulter, the landlord has first to establish in a competent Revenue Court that the default has occurred and that the tenant is refusing to pay the rent as laid down in section 44 of the Tenancy. Act. The landlord, therefore, cannot combine the prayer for recovery of ail-cars of rent with the prayer for ejectment in the same suit. The suit for ejectment for non-payment of arrears of rent has to follow the suit for recovery of rent after it has been decreed.
The provisions of para. 25 of Martial Law Regulation No, 115 are to be read with the provisions of section 44 of the Tenancy Act.
7. In view of the position examined above, it appears that the contentions of the counsel for the petitioners are in accordance with the law and since in the procedure has not been followed, the orders of the Additional Deputy Commissioner (C)/Collector, dated 5-9-F975, and the Additional.
Commissioner dated 20-5-1977 are set aside and all the three revision petitions ar. Allowed.
' The argument was heard and the order was reserved on 27-6-1978. The parties and their counsel be informed accordingly.