In Brief
A landlord purchased a commercial property and inherited a 99-year lease agreement dating from 1992. When the tenant defaulted on rent, the landlord sued for possession and damages. The tenant argued the suit was invalid because the landlord failed to give statutory notice required under the West Bengal Tenancy Act, 1997. The key question was whether the 1997 Act applied to a lease made before its enactment. The Supreme Court held that the trial court must frame and decide this statutory applicability issue as a preliminary matter, rather than dismissing the suit outright based on procedural objections alone.
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