' AJMAL MIAN, J.---The petitioner by this petition seeks leave to appeal against the judgment dated 26-5-1988, passed by a learned Single Judge of the High Court of Sindh in First Rent Appeal No, 954 of 1984, allowing the respondent's above appeal and setting aside the order dated 26-9-1984 and granting the ejectment order in favour of the respondent on the ground of default.
2. The relevant facts are that commercial plot of land, bearing Survey NoA-2, situated in Block No,4, Shah Faisal Colony (Drig Colony), Karachi, admeasuring 44.44 square yards with construction thereon (hereinafter referred to as the tenement), belonged to one Mst. Shakuran widow of All Muhammad and of which the petitioner was the tenant at Rs,400 per month and was running a hotel therein under the name and style of "Ghareeb Nawaz Hotel", was sold by her through a registered sale-deed dated 21-11-1979 to Achan Khan now deceased (hereinafter referred to as the deceased purchaser). The respondents being the next-of-kins of the deceased purchaser are succssors-in-interest. The deceased purchaser served a notice dated 26-11-1979 on the petitioner informing him about the above purchase and calling upon him to pay rent. The petitioner's employee Shakoor Beg sent a reply dated 2-12-1979 to the above notice informing the deceased purchaser that the petitioner had gone to India and was expected to return on 27-12-1979. After that the deceased purchaser served another notice on the petitioner on 16-6-1980 reiterating the contents of his previous notice and also intimating to the petitioner that he needed the tenement for his personal use. The petitioner instead of making payment of rent in response to the above notice started depositing rent with the Rent Controller upon filing of Miscellaneous Application No, 4620 of 1979 from September, 1979 as per averment in the written statement. He also filed Suit No, 904 of 1980 in the High Court of Sindh against the previous owner and the deceased purchaser seeking cancellation of the registered sale-deed and specific performance of an alleged sale agreement. The deceased purchaser filed aforesaid Rent Case on the grounds of default and personal requirement but the learned Rent Controller by his order dated 26-9-1984 dismissed the above Rent Case. Thereupon, the respondents as the next-of-kins of the deceased purchaser filed the aforesaid First Rent Appeal which was allowed only on the ground of default as the personal requirement was not pressed for the time being on account of death of the deceased purchaser.
The petitioner has, therefore, filed the present petition.
3. Mr. Ali Akbar, learned ASC in support of the above petition has urged that since there was a dispute as to the entitlement of the deceased purchaser to purchase the tenement inasmuch as a suit was pending in the High Court and as the petitioner had been depositing rent regularly in the aforesaid Miscellaneous Rent Case, the High Court was not justified in granting ejectment on the ground of default. However, in reply to a question from the Court, whether the petitioner remained a tenant of the previous owner after he entered into an alleged sale agreement with her, he candidly submitted that the petitioner's status was of a tenant. It must, therefore, follow that the petitioner remained liable to pay rent to the previous owner or to his successor as a purchaser under a registered sale deed. It is an admitted position that even after the receipt of more than one notice from the deceased purchaser about the purchase of the tenement and in spite of being requested to parent, the petitioner refused to pay rent to him, but he filed a Miscellaneous Rent Application for depositing of rent with the Rent Controller and also filed aforesaid suit for the aforesaid reliefs. The High Court being the Appellate Court on question of fact and law on the basis of the above admitted facts could have recorded a finding that the petitioner had committed default. In this behalf reference may be made to the case of Allah Yar and others v. Additional District Judge and others, reported in 1984 SCM R 741, in which this Court declined to grant leave against the order of the Lahore High Court passed in Constitutional petition which was filed by the tenants after they lost their case before the forums provided under the West Pakistan Rent Restriction Ordinance, 1959. The plea raised from the side of the tenants was that one of the sitting tenants having entered into an agreement to purchase property of previous owner had filed suit for specific performance. The above plea was not accepted by this Court.
4. Since the petitioner was 'insisting not to pay rent to the deceased purchaser, the deposit of rent by him with the Rent Controller through Miscellaneous Rent Application in the name of the previous owner, who had ceased to have any interest in the tenement was of no legal consequence. The High Court's judgment seems to be in consonance with law and, therefore, does not call for interference by this Court. The petition is, therefore, dismissed.