The central legal point established in the judgment is the requirement for a landlord to demonstrate bona fide need for eviction under Section 14(1)(e) of the DRC Act and the parameters considered for granting leave to defend by a tenant.

JAYANT NATH, J.

CM No. 39287/2016 (exemption)

Exemption is allowed subject to all just exceptions.

RC.REV. No. 511/2016 and CM Nos. 39286/2016 (stay) & 39288/2016 (delay)

1. The present revision petition is filed under Section 25 (B) (8) of the Delhi Rent Control Act (hereinafter referred to as DRC Act) seeking to impugn the order dated 23.04.2016 passed by the Additional Rent Controller (ARC) dismissing the application of the petitioner for grant of leave to defend and consequently, passing an order of eviction against the petitioner.

2. The respondents have filed the present eviction petition against the petitioner under Section 14(1)(e) read with Section 25(B) of the DRC Act. As per the eviction petition, one shop measuring about 9 x 5 ft. at the ground floor of Laxmi Narayan Mandir, D-Block, Jafrabad Road, New Seelampur, Delhi-110053 was let out to the petitioner. It is stated that at the time of the inception of the tenancy, the rent was Rs.600/- per month but presently the monthly rent is Rs.3,100/- per month. The tenancy was said to have started from 2012. It was further stated that the respondents are the owners of the entire property and the total area of the property is about 175 sq. yards and on the ground floor of the property there are 8 shops, the petitioner being the tenant of one shop i.e. No. D-1/4(B) at the ground floor of Laxmi Narayan Mandir Nirman Sabha. It is the contention of the respondents in the eviction petition that the population of the area and devotees are increasing day by day. Heavy crowd is experienced on each and every occasion on performance of religious functions organised by the devotees and other persons. On various festivals, heavy crowd of devotees collects at the Mandir premises but the space of the Mandir premises is limited and the road in front of the Mandir becomes congested. Further requirement of space is explained stating that a small statute of Shiv Parivar is situated at a very small place and persons cannot do worship. A statute of Lord Shani Dev is a must in the Mandir premises and there is a heavy demand for the same by the devotees but due to non-availability of space, the statute cannot be put. Despite there being huge crowd who daily attend the Mandir, there is no place to install drinking water cooler, wash rooms for gents and ladies. There is no space to install security system like CCTV Cameras which is necessary for a crimeprone area like Seelampur. Hence, it is urged that there is an urgent need for additional space by the respondents and hence, the eviction petitions have been filed against all the eight shops including the shop occupied by the petitioner which are required to be vacated because more space is required by the Mandir.

3. The petitioner filed his application under Section 25(B) (4) of the DRC Act for grant of leave to defend and contest the eviction petition. It was urged in the application that the present respondent is not the Secretary of the Mandir Nirman Sabha and that the real officials of the Mandir Nirman Sabha have lodged a complaint against the respondent and hence, a triable issue has arisen. It is stated that Shri. Rajesh Sharma, the alleged Secretary is not even the member of the Mandir Sabha.

4. The trial court on the issue of landlord and tenant relationship noted that it was not for the petitioner to challenge the ownership of the respondents. The petition is, in fact, not filed by Sh. Rajesh Sharma in his personal capacity but is filed by him in his official capacity on behalf of the Sabha/Society. Hence, if there is any dispute as to whether Sh. Rajesh Sharma is the Secretary of the respondent Society or not, the fact remains that the petition is filed by the Sabha/Society. The trial court further noted that there is no dispute raised by the petitioner about the increased foot fall of devotees, the requirement of room for security guards and systems, requirement of washrooms for general public and fixation of various statutes of D