In Brief
A landlord sought eviction of tenants for non-payment of rent under the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949. The Rent Controller ordered eviction after the tenants failed to deposit the provisionally assessed arrears. Although the High Court set aside the eviction because the assessment period was incorrect, the Supreme Court held that tenants cannot ignore a provisional assessment and challenge it only in appeal if they have admitted arrears are due for part of the period and stubbornly refused to deposit even the reduced assessed amount. The Court restored the eviction order, holding that the legislative concession requires tenant compliance with provisional assessment to avoid eviction, balancing landlord and tenant rights.
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