Jammu & Kashmir High Court
Romesh Chander Sharma vs Ut Of Jammu And Kashmir on 16 May, 2025
Author: Rahul Bharti
Bench: Rahul Bharti
Sr. No. 9
HIGH COURT OF JAMMU & KASHMIR AND LADAKH
AT JAMMU
Case No.:- WP(C) No. 2373/2023
CM No. 5558/2023
Romesh Chander Sharma, age 77 years
S/o Late Sh. Girdhari Lal Sharma
R/o Village Smailpur Tehsil Bari Brahmana
District Samba, presently House No. 183
Ward No. 1 Jawahar Nagar, Kathua.
.....Petitioner(s)
Through: Mr. Dhruv Pant, Advocate.
Vs
1. UT of Jammu and Kashmir
Through Secretary to
Health and Medical Education Department
Civil Secretariat, Jammu/Srinagar.
2. Deputy Commissioner,
District Administration Complex
Samba-184121.
3. Mission Director,
Health Services and Family Welfare
MCH and Immunization
J&K, Jammu.
4. Mission Director,
National Rural Health Mission
Nagrota.
5. Chief Medical Officer, Samba.
6. Block Medical Officer, Purmandal.
..... Respondent(s)
Through: Mr. Raman Sharma, AAG with
Ms. Saliqa Sheikh, Advocate.
Coram: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAHUL BHARTI, JUDGE
2 WP(C) No. 2373/2023
ORDER
16.05.2025
1. The petitioner came forward with the present writ petition
bearing a cause of action relatable to the use and occupation
of his building premises situated in village Smailpur which
came to be leased out to Block Medical Officer, Purmandal for
running of a Health and Wellness Centre, Smailpur.
2. The demised premises was taken on leasehold basis w.e.f.
01.05.2019 without any written lease agreement obtaining
between the petitioner as 'lessor' and the Block Medical
Officer, Health and Family Welfare Block Purmandal or for that
matter the concerned Administrative Department as 'lessee'.
3. So much so, even the fixation of monthly rent for use and
occupation of the petitioner's premises was subject to rent
assessment to be carried out by the District Rent Assessment
Committee.
4. Upon initiation of the lease, the petitioner was getting monthly
rent on tentative basis subject to finalization of the rent by the
District Rent Assessment Committee which came to take a
final call in terms of a meeting held on 12.04.2021.
5. Obviously, the intervening period getting consumed by Covid-
19 pandemic, the District Rent Assessment Committee, in its
meeting held on 12.04.2021, came to settle the monthly rent
with respect to the petitioner's premises in the following
manner:
Sr. Particular Indenting Location Cost of Rent Assessed Rent
No. Depart- land in Rs. by the approved
ment Superintendent by the
Engineer PWD committee
(R&B)
1. Rent Health Smailpur 34,00000/- The The
Assessment Superintendent Committee
case of Engineer PWD has
private (R&B) Jammu - approved
Building Kathua Circle the rent as
belonging to Jammu has
Shri Romesh worked out the
Chander S/o rent.
Late Shri
Girdhari Lal Stage 1st @
Stage 1st @ Rs.
Sharma R/o Rs.11,800/-
11,800/- per
Village per month
month w.e.f.
Smailpur, w.e.f.
01.05.19 to
Tehsil Bari 01.05.19 to
30.11.2019.
Brahmana, 30.11.2019.
District
Samba Stage 2nd @ Rs.
Stage 2nd @
occupied by 13800/- per
13800/-
Health & month w.e.f.
per month
Wellness 01.12.2019 to
w.e.f.
Centre 31.12.2019.
01.12.2019
Smailpur
to
Stage 3rd Rs. 31.12.2019.
19,500/- per
month w.e.f.
Stage 3rd @
01.01.2020 to
Rs. 19500/-
onwards.
per month
with effect
from
01.01.2020
to onwards.
6. The monthly rent was subject to periodic revision stage wise.
Stage 3rd revision of rent envisaged payment of monthly rent
@ Rs. 19,500/- w.e.f., 01.01.2020 to onwards.
7. The petitioner accepted the assessment of the rent and also
the stage wise revision meaning thereby it was very well known
to the petitioner all along that the stage 3rd revision of rent @
Rs. 19,500/- was to commence from 01.01.2020 and was
meant to last onwards without admitting next revision. The
petitioner kept on receiving the stage 3rd rent at the rate at
which it stood revised to Rs. 19,500/-.
8. It is only by coming forward with the present writ petition
instituted on 08.09.2023 that the petitioner claimed that he is
entitled to seek revised rate of rent post 3rd stage from the
respondents from 01.06.2021 and also seeking vacation of his
leasehold premises from the respondents.
9. Vacation of the leasehold premises by the respondents is said
to have taken place during the pendency of the writ petition
when the respondents came to vacate the demised premises on
06.10.2023 by paying to the petitioner the last pending rent
due upto 06.10.2023 as per 3rd stage assessed rate of rent.
10. In the writ petition, the petitioner submits that there are
arrears of rent of Rs. 9,12,400/- upto 31.08.2023 which is
based upon the self-assessment of the petitioner as being the
revised rate of rent post stage 3rd revision of rent. The
petitioner cannot be heard to say that he has the discretion of
revising the rate of rent as against the settled stage 3rd revision
of rent @ Rs. 19,500/- commencing from 01.01.2020 onwards.
11. If the petitioner was not finding it acceptable that stage 3rd
revised of rent was to last without any further revision, the
petitioner ought to have then put a call to the respondents
either to set a time line to stage 3rd revised rate of rent or to
have his premises vacated. The petitioner seems to have done
nothing on both the counts and, therefore, self-revised rate of
rent to be so to say stage 4th rent and thus expecting the
respondent to pay him at the said rate amounting to Rs.
9,12,400/- is nothing but a unilateral act and judgment on the
part of the petitioner which earns him no right of action.
12. The respondents in their reply have come up with the details
in which the monthly payment of rent, stage wise, came to
take place and if left to the respondents, rent has been
overpaid by them to the petitioner with excess amount of
Rs. 42,000/-. The respondents also cannot be heard to agitate
this aspect that they have paid excess rent.
13. Application filed by Mr. Raman Sharma, learned AAG, for
placing on record the details with respect to calculation of rent
for the period the premises of the petitioner remained with the
respondents, is taken on record.
14. In the light of the aforesaid, this writ petition is dismissed
along with connected application(s) holding that the petitioner
is not entitled to self-revised claim of rent qua his demised
building in terms of its leased out use and occupation by the
respondents other than stage 3rd revised rate of rent which has
been duly paid to him by the respondents and accepted by him
without any protest.
15. Disposed of.
(RAHUL BHARTI)
JUDGE
JAMMU
16.05.2025
Naresh/Secy.
