Recovery of possession after termination or determination of tenancy where tenancy is at a rate not exceeding $14,400 per annum

(1) Whenever the term or interest of any tenant of a tenement held by him at will or for a term, either without being liable to the payment of rent, or at a rent not exceeding the rate of fourteen thousand four hundred dollars per annum, has expired or has been determined by a legal notice to quit, or otherwise, if the tenant (or, when he does not himself occupy the premises or occupies only a part thereof, if the person by whom they or any part thereof are or is occupied) refuses or neglects to deliver up possession of them, the following provisions shall apply; 39 (a) the former landlord or his agent may file against the former tenant or occupier in the district court an application for recovery of possession of the land formerly held under the tenancy, which application shall be treated as if it were a plaint filed in the said court; (b) if the former tenant or occupier does not appear in accordance with the summons, or appears but does not show to the satisfaction of the magistrate reasonable cause why possession should not be delivered up, and still refuses or neglects to deliver up possession of the premises to the former landlord or his agent, the magistrate, on proof of the holding and of the expiration or determination of the tenancy and the time and manner thereof, and, where the title of the landlord has accrued since the letting of the premises, on proof of the right by which he claims possession, may, subject to the Rent Restriction Act, Cap. 195, order that possession of the land be delivered up by the former tenant or occupier as well as by all persons who were on the land through or under the former tenant; (c) at the hearing of an application for possession of any land, the former landlord may adduce evidence of the mesne profits thereof which shall or might have accrued from the day of the expiration or determination of the former tenant’s interest in the land down to the time of the making of the order, or to some preceding day to be mentioned therein, and if the court finds that mesne profits are due, judgment may be given for the recovery of the whole or part of the land as well as for the amount of the damages to be paid for such mesne profits, Provided that nothing herein contained shall be construed to bar any former landlord from bringing any action for the mesne profits which accrue from the judgment, or the day specified therein, down to the day of the delivery of possession of the land recovered in the ejectment; (d) if the former tenant or occupier or any person lawfully on the land or in the buildings through or under him fails to deliver up possession of the land as directed by the order within the period fixed thereby, the magistrate may issue a warrant of ejectment to any police officer or bailiff requiring and authorising him forthwith or within a period to be named therein to give possession of the land to the former landlord or his agent, and that warrant shall be a sufficient authority to any police officer or bailiff executing it to enter upon the land with any assistance he thinks necessary, and to give possession accordingly, but the entry shall not be made on a Sunday, Good Friday, Christmas Day or public holiday, or at any time except between the hours of eight in the morning and four in the afternoon; (e) at the time of the making of any order for the recovery of possession of any land or buildings, or of any application for the ejectment of a former tenant or occupier or other person thereon or therein through or under the former tenant or occupier, the court may adjourn the hearing of the application, or stay or suspend the date of possession for any period subject to such conditions (if any) in regard to payment by the former tenant or 41 occupier of arrears of rent, mesne profit and otherwise, as the court thinks fit; (f) the law, practice and procedure under the District Courts (Procedure) Act, Cap. 97, shall apply to the plaint, the issue of the summons and the hearing and determination of the action for the recovery of possession under this section. (2) Where the tenement consisted of cultivated lands, the following provisions shall apply, (a) if, at the hearing of the action for possession, there are growing crops thereon which have been planted by the former tenant or by those from whom he derives interest, the magistrate may direct that the former landlord shall, before obtaining an order for possession, deposit with the clerk of court the value of those growing crops, after deducting the amount of what is due and will become due for rent of the land up to the time when the order will be made, and after deducting the costs incurred, if the value of the crops exceeds that sum; (b) the magistrate shall have full power to inquire into and determine the value of the crops, and, on the warrant being returned executed, may direct that the amount be paid over to the former tenant; (c) the magistrate may authorise any person or persons to enter on the lands the possession of which is claimed, and direct him or them to appraise the value of the growing crops; 42 (d) every person so appointed may enter on the lands and examine the crops, and every who obstructs any so appointed commits an offence and on conviction thereof shall be liable under the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences)Act, Cap. 98 and Summary Jurisdiction (Procedure) Act, Cap. 99, to a penalty not exceeding twenty dollars. (3) If any person who was a tenant previously to the execution of the warrant, or was on the land or in the buildings under or through the former tenant, re-enters on the land or the buildings after the execution of the warrant, he shall, unless he has acquired title to the land or buildings after the warrant was issued, be deemed a wilful trespasser, and on conviction thereof under the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act, Cap. 98 and Summary Jurisdiction (Procedure) Act, Cap. 99, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, Provided that nothing herein contained shall be deemed to protect any person at whose instance a warrant to deliver possession of land or buildings is issued as aforesaid from any action brought against him by the former tenant or occupier for or in respect of the entry and taking possession where he had not, at the time of issue of the warrant, lawful right to the possession of the premises. (4) The plaintiff may join in an action for the recovery of land or buildings under this Act claims in respect of mesne profits, arrear of rent, double value in respect of the land or buildings claimed or any part thereof, damages for breach of any contract under which the same or any part thereof was held or for wrong or injury to the land or buildings. (5) The plaintiff or the defendant may appeal from the decision of the magistrate given in any action for possession of land or buildings brought under this Act to the court under Part 43 IX of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act, Cap. 91, in the manner and in accordance with the provisions prescribed in that Act.