Right of members of armed Forces of Union and their widows and heirs to recover possession of premises required for their occupation

(1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act or in any contract-

(a) a specified landlord shall be entitled to recover from his tenant the possession of any premises owned by him or by any member of his family, on the ground that such premises are bonafide required by him for occupation by himself or by any member of his family and on receipt of an application made by the specified landlord for the purpose of recovery of possession of the premises, the competent authority shall make an order of eviction on that ground if the specified landlord produces a certificate granted by the authorised officer to the effect that,-

(i) he is a member of the armed forces of the Union, or that he was such a member and has retired as such, and

(ii) he does not possess any other premises suitable for residence in the local area where the premises are situated;

(b) a successor-in-interest who becomes the landlord of the premises owned by such member of the armed forces of the Union, as a result of death of such member while in service or within five years of his retirement, shall be entitled to recover possession of such premises on the ground that the premises are bonafide required for occupation by the successor-in-interest himself or by any member of the family of the deceased member and on receipt of an application made by the successor-in-interest for the purpose of recovery of possession of the premises, the competent authority shall make an order of eviction on that ground if the successor in-interest produces a certificate granted by the authorised officer to the effect that,-

(i) the successor-in-interest is a widow or any other member of the family of the deceased member of the armed forces of the Union; and

(ii) such successor-in-interest, does not possess any other premises suitable for residence in the local area where such premises are situated.

(2) Any certificate granted under clause (a) or clause (b) of sub-section (1) shall be conclusive evidence of the facts stated therein.

(3) (a) No order for eviction shall be made under this section if the competent authority is satisfied that, having regard to all the circumstances of the case including the question whether other reasonable accommodation is available for the specified landlord or, as the case may be, the successor-in-interest or the tenant, greater hardship would be caused by making the order than by refusing to make it.

(b) Where the competent authority is satisfied that no hardship would be caused either to the tenant or to the specified landlord or, as the case may be, the successor-in-interest by making the order in respect of a part of the premises, the competent authority shall make the order in respect of such part only.

Explanation.—For the purpose of this section,—

(1) "authorised officer", in relation to a member of the armed forces of the Union, means his commanding officer or head of service including—

(i) in the case of an officer retired from Army, the Area Commander,

(ii) in the case of an officer retired from the Navy, the Flag Officer commanding-in-Chief, Naval Command, and

(iii) in the case of an officer retired from the Air force, the Station Commander ;

(2) "competent authority" means the authority appointed under section 31A;

(3) "member of the family" in relation to a member of the armed forces of the Union, means any of the following members of his family who is ordinarily residing with him and who is dependent on him and where such member has retired or died, any member of his family who is so resident or dependent at the time of his retirement, or as the case may be, death, namely:—

spouse, father, mother, son, daughter, grand-son, grand-daughter, son's wife, grandson's wife, widow of a predeceased son or grand-son;

(4) "specified landlord" means a person who is a member of the armed forces of the Union or who was such member and has duly retired prematurely or otherwise and who or a member of whose family owns any premises;

(5) "successor-in-interest" in relation to a deceased member of the armed forces of the Union means,—

(i) if the deceased member has a spouse living at the time of his death, such spouse, and

(ii) in any other case, any other member of his family.