PUNJAB & HARYANA HIGH COURT
Mahesh Grover, J.
Arun Kumar
Versus
Shri Ashok Kumar Chhabra
C. R. No. 6132 of 2009,
Decided On : JULY 29, 2010
Eviction - Tenancy Dispute - The court upheld the eviction application filed by the landlord, ruling that the tenanted room, being used as a shop by the tenant, could be vacated for commercial use as required by the landlord for setting up a shop for his son.
Fact of the Case:
The landlord filed an eviction application under Section 13 of the Haryana Urban (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act,1973, stating that the room let out to the tenant was required for setting up a business for his son. The tenant contested, claiming the room was primarily residential and could not be vacated for commercial use.
Finding of the Court:
The Rent Controller accepted the landlord's plea for eviction, but the Appellate Authority reversed the decision, holding the room to be residential and not vacatable for commercial use. The court, however, upheld the eviction application, stating that the tenant's use of the room as a shop allowed for its commercial use and upheld the Rent Controller's decision.
Issues: Dispute over the nature of the tenanted room and its vacatability for commercial use, denial of tenant-landlord relationship, and the landlord's bona fide requirement for setting up a shop for his son.
Ratio Decidendi: The court emphasized that the tenant's use of the room as a shop allowed for its commercial use, and the landlord's bona fide requirement for setting up a shop for his son justified the eviction.
Final Decision: The court accepted the petition, set aside the Appellate Authority's judgment, upheld the Rent Controller's decision, and directed the eviction of the tenant from the tenanted room.
Mahesh Grover, J.
1. This revision petition is directed against judgment dated 20.5.2009 passed by the Appellate Authority, Ambala by which the appeal of the respondent-tenant was accepted, the judgment dated 10.4.2008 of the Rent Controller, Ambala Cantt. was set aside and the eviction application filed by the petitioner-landlord was rejected.
2. An application under Section 13 of the Haryana Urban (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act,1973 was preferred by the petitioner for ejectment of the respondent from the room which was let out to him. It was pleaded by the petitioner that the room was required by him for the purpose of setting up business for his son. It was further pleaded that the room in question was being used by the respondent as a shop.
3. The respondent contested the application and disputed the right of the petitioner to file the same as he was not owner of the tenanted premises. An oblique attempt was also made by the respondent to deny the relationship of tenant and landlord to say that the petitioner had been taking rent from him on the strength of misrepresentation. The respondent had pleaded that the room was primarily residential and the municipal authorities had also sanctioned the site plan accordingly and, therefore, the petitioner could not get the same vacated on the ground that he wanted to set up a shop therein for his son and put it to commercial use.
4. The Rent Controller accepted the plea of the petitioner and directed the eviction of the respondent,but the Appellate Authority reversed that decision. While doing so, the Appellate Authority held that the nature of the room was residential and the municipal authorities had sanctioned the plan accordingly. It also concluded that the petitioner could not get the room vacated for commercial use.
5. Aggrieved by the findings of the Appellate Authority, the petitioner has filed the instant petition.
6. Learned counsel for the petitioner has referred to the cross-examination of the respondent to contend that he himself is running a shop in the tenanted room since 1977 and, therefore, it does not lie in his mouth to say that the same cannot be used for commercial purpose by the landlord. He further contended that the respondent has tried to deny the relationship of tenant and landlord and once a tenant denies such a relationship, he is not entitled to remain in possession of the tenanted premises when it is established to the contrary.
7. On the other hand, learned counsel for the respondent submitted that the room was residential in nature which has rightly been appreciated by the Appellate Authority and once the tenanted premises was held to be residential, the petitioner could not get it vacated for the purpose other than residential. He relied upon a decision of this Court in Tejinder Singh Jaggi v. Rajiv Chopra (died) through LRs. and others, 2009(4) R.C.R. (Civil) 36 (P&H) wherein it has been observed that where a building which has been constructed as residential, but subsequently the same was partitioned into two and one portion was permitted to be used for commercial purpose, then the same would not change the nature and character of the building and the landlord was not entitled to eject the tenant on the ground of bona fide requirement.
8. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and have perused the material which has been produced before this Court during the course of arguments.
9. The nature and character of the tenanted premises for the purpose of determination of the controversy in hand will not make much of difference for two reasons - one is that after the decision of the Supreme Court in Harbilas Rai Bansal v. State of Punjab, 1995(2) R.C.R. (Rent) 672 (S.C.), the ground of personal necessity is equally applicable to both residential and non- residential buildings and can be availed of by a landlord to seek eviction of the tenant and the second is that the petitioner had pleaded that the tenanted room was being used by
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