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CR-871 of 2026

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

CR-871 of 2026(O&M)

Date of decision: 29.01.2026

Navish Kumar

…Petitioner

Versus

Govinder Singh & Ors.

…Respondents

CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE DEEPAK GUPTA

Present:- Mr. Pranav Handa, Advocate

For the petitioner.

Mr. Sandeep Arora, Advocate

For respondent No.2.

***

DEEPAK GUPTA, J.

Though no formal notice of motion has been issued, a memo of

appearance has been filed on behalf of respondent No.2. With the consent of

learned counsels, the petition is taken up for final hearing.

2. The petitioner herein is the respondent-tenant in an ejectment

petition filed under Section 13 of the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act,

1949 by the respondents-landlords on the ground of non-payment of arrears of

rent. The said ejectment petition is pending before the learned Rent Controller,

Jalandhar. The present petition assails the order dated 14.01.2026 (Annexure P-

7), whereby the learned Rent Controller dismissed the petitioner’s application

seeking permission to summon and examine Rajinder Singh son of late Sardar

Mahan Singh in additional evidence for proving rent receipts Ex.R1 to Ex.R3.

3. A perusal of the record reveals that the petitioner was inducted as a

tenant in the demised premises by late Sardar Mahan Singh, father of the

respondents. After his demise, the respondents, being his Class-I legal heirs,

initiated eviction proceedings alleging that the petitioner was in arrears of rent

from January, 2013 to April, 2019.

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4. The said claim was contested by the tenant by asserting that no rent

was due, as the rent was regularly paid to Rajinder Singh, one of the sons of the

deceased landlord, who was receiving rent on behalf of the family. In support of

this plea, the tenant relied upon rent receipts Ex.R1 to Ex.R3.

5. The trial proceeded and at the stage of final arguments, the

petitioner moved an application seeking permission to examine Rajinder Singh

son of late Sardar Mahan Singh as an additional witness to formally prove the

rent receipts. The explanation furnished was that though the rent receipts had

already been placed on record and exhibited, the inadvertent omission to

examine their executant required to be cured in the interest of justice.

6. The learned Rent Controller dismissed the application primarily on

the ground that it was intended to delay the proceedings. Reliance was also

placed on pleadings filed by Rajinder Singh in a separate litigation titled Navish

Kumar v. Mahan Singh, decided on 24.12.2025, wherein he had allegedly denied

execution of the rent receipts.

7. This court is unable to sustain the impugned order.

8. It is not in dispute that none of the landlords examined themselves

as witnesses before the Rent Controller. It is also conceded that respondent

No.1 Govinder Singh expired during pendency of proceedings and his legal

representatives were brought on record, whereas the ejectment petition qua

Rajinder Singh was subsequently withdrawn. The sole witness examined on

behalf of the landlords admittedly expressed ignorance regarding the signatures

of Rajinder Singh on the rent receipts Ex.R1 to Ex.R3.

9. Significantly, the Rent Controller relied upon pleadings made by

Rajinder Singh in an entirely separate litigation and not upon any testimony

recorded in the present proceedings. It is well settled that pleadings in another

case, unless duly proved in accordance with law and subjected to cross-

examination, cannot substitute substantive evidence in the lis at hand.

10. The rent receipts Ex.R1 to Ex.R3 form the very foundation of the

tenant’s defence. The consistent stand of the tenant since inception has been

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that rent was duly paid to Rajinder Singh, who was admittedly one of the sons of

the original landlord and a co-owner of the property. Denial of opportunity to

examine the executant of such receipts strikes at the