Enhancement and reduction of rent by suit

(1) A Revenue Court, on the suit of either landlord or tenant, may, subject to the provisions of this and other sections of this Act, enhance or reduce the rent of any tenant having a right of occupancy. (2) Where a decree for the enhancement of the rent of such a tenant has been passed under the Punjab Tenancy Act, 1868, (XXVIII of 1868) a suit for a further enhancement of his rent shall not lie till the expiration of five years from the date of the decree, unless in the meantime the local area in which the land comprised in the decree is situate has been generally reassessed and the revenue payable in respect of that land has been increased. (3) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), a suit instituted for the enhancement of the rent of a tenant having a right of occupancy shall not be entertained in either of the following cases, namely:— (a) if within the ten years next preceding its institution his rent has been commuted under section 13 or enhanced under this section, (b) if within that period a decree has been passed under this Act dismissing on the merits a suit for the enhancement of his rent, unless the land or some part of the land comprised in his tenancy, not having been irrigated or flooded at the time of such commutation, enhancement or decree, has become irrigated or flooded.