MOHINDER PRASAD JAIN v. MANOHAR LAL JAIN

Citation: [2006] 2 S.C.R. 513

Court: Supreme Court of India

Bench: S.B. SINHA, P.K. BALASUBRAMANYAN

Case summary

MOHINDER PRASAD JAIN v. MANOHAR LAL JAIN.pdf

Judgment text

MOH! NDER PRASAD JAIN ' v. MANOHAR LAL JAIN FEBRUARY 24, 2006 [S. B. SINHA AND P. K. BALASUBRAMANYAM, JJ. ] ,.

\ Rent and Eviction: Haryana Urban (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act, 1973; Section I3: Eviction Petition-Non-residential premiseslshop-Bonajide requirement- Non-joinder of co-owners in eviction proceeding-Effect of-Held: A suit filed by a co-owner maintainable in law-Petitioner-co-owner need not to show that consent ofother co-owners obtained theret~ince provisions of law not allowing eviction on bonafide requirement ofa non-residential premises held ttJ be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, the landlord could seek eviction ofthe premises in question on the ground of bonafide requirement- ---\ Besides, landlord/c~wner hadproved his bonafide requirement to evict the ' tenant from the premises/shop in question, the findings offact arrived at by the Court below need not be disturbed Respondent, one of the co-owners, filed a petition under Section 13 of the Haryana Urban (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act, 1973 for eviction of the appellant-tenant from a shop/premises in question on the ground of his bona fide personal requir~ment, i.

e. , for the purpose of running wholesale business in·Ayurvedic medicines. The petition was dismissed by the Rent Controller holding that the bona fide requirement· of the respondent in respect of the non-residential premises has not been proved and moreover he had not been able to show that the consent of other co-owners obtained favouring eviction of the premises. An appeal preferred thereagainst was allowed by the Appellate Authority on a finding that the petitioner had proved his bona fide requirement. The Revision Petition filed by the tenant was dismissed by the High Court holding that the landlord is entitled to seek eviction of the tenant from the non- . residential premises. Hence the present appeal. ; ~ Appellant-tenant.

contended whereas a clear finding of fact was arrived at by the Rent Controller that the respondent had failed to prove his bona fide requirement in relation to the premhes in question in view of the fact that other co-owners did not ghe their consent for starting a ' business in the said shop, the Appellate Authority Jid not delve deep into the. matter. "' Dismissing the appeal, the Court HELD: I. I. This Court in the case of Harbilas Rai Bansal v. State of Punjab & Anr. , (19961 1 SCC 1 held the e:dsting provision on bonafide requirement of non-residential premises to be unconstitutional. Later, .. upholding the ratio in the case of Rakesh Vij v. Dr. Raminder Pal Singh Sethi & Ors. , (2005) 8 SCC 504, this Court held that a landlord under the Act can seek eviction of a tenant from a non-residential building on the ground of bonafide requirement. 1516-D-EI Rakesh Vij v. Dr. Raminder Pal Singh Sethi & Ors. , (20051 8 SCC 504 and Harbi/as Rai Bansal v. State ofPunjab & Anr.

, (1996] 1 SCC 1, relied on. Gian Devi Anandv. Jeevan Kumar & Ors. , (1985) 2 SCC 683, referred ,.. to. ' 1. 2. A suit filed by a co-owner is maintainable in law. It is not necessary for the co-owner to show before initiating the eviction '. proceeding before the Rent Controller that he hllld taken consent of the other co-owners. However, in the event, a co-owner objects thereto, the same may be a relevant fact. In the instant case, nothing has been brought on record to show that the co-owners of the respondent had objected to eviction proceedings initiated by the respondent. (518-D-E) India Umbrella Manufacturing Co. & Ors. v. Bhagabandei Agarwal/a ;- (Dead) by Lrs. Savitri Agarwal/a (Smt. ) & Ors. , (2004) 3 SCC 178, relied on. 1. 3. The submission of the appellant to the effect that before initiating the proceedings, respondent was required to show that he had experience in running the business in Ayurvedic medicine is rejected. There is no law ....

which provides for such a pre-condition. It may be so where a licence is , required for running a business, a statute may prescribe certain r ' qualifications or pre-conditions without fulfilment whereof the landlord may not be able to start a business, but for running a wholesale business \ in Ayurvedic medicine, no qualification is prescribed. Experience in the "'" business is not a pre-condition under any statute. Even no experience therefor may be necessary. If the respondent has proved his bona fide requirement to evict the appellant for his own purpose, this Court may not, unless an appropriate case is made out, disturb the finding of fact arrived at by the Appellate Authority and affirmed by the High Court. 1518-E-F-GJ (:! VIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 1263 of2006. A. , ,, From the Final Order dated 15. 12. 2004 of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Civil Revision Petition No. 6121 of 2004. Dr. Vikas Vashishth, Kuldip Singh for the Appellant. S. B. Sanyal, B. K.

Satija for the Respondent. . The Judgment of the Court was delivered by S. B. SINHA, J. Leave granted. --\ The father of the respondent herein was the owner of a shop in which the appellant was inducted as a tenant on 1st April, 1972. The monthly rent payable in relation to the said tenanted premises was Rs. 700/-. The original landlord, the father of the respondent having died on 5th March, 1979, the respondent along with his four sisters, became the owner of the said tenanted premises. He was an employee of Hero Honda Motors Limited. He retired from service having attained the ·age of superannuation. One year after his retirement, he filed an application under Section 13 of the Haryana Urban (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act, 1973 ('the Act') for eviction of the appellant from the shop in question on the ground of his bona fide personal ~ . -\ requirement, i. e. , for the purpose of running wholesale business in Ayurvedic medicines.

The said application was dismissed by the Rent Controller holding that the bona fide requirement of the respondent in respect of the nonresidential premises has not been proved and moreover he had not been able to show consent of his sisters in his favour in that behalf. An appeal preferred thereagainst was allowed by the Appellate Authority on a finding that he proved his bona fide requirement. In the revision petition filed before the ,.. High Court the appellant raised a contention that an application for eviction on bona fide requirement of a non-residential premises was not maintainable. ' It is not in dispute that this Court as also the Punjab & Haryana High -; . Court declared such a provision to be unconsttutional. f The High Court opined : "Still further the learned counsel forther argued that eviction on the basis of personal requirement is not available in respect ·of nonresidential building.

He has placed rdiance upon the Full Bench judgment of Delhi High Court reported as Satyawati Sharma Versus Union of India and another 2003 (I) R. L. R. 91. ;.. However, I am bound by the judgment of the D. B. of this Court in State ofHaryana v. Ved Parkash Gupta and Ors. , (1999) I R. L. R. 689, wherein the provision of Haryana Urban (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act, 1973 have been struck down and consequently, the landlord is entitled to seek eviction of the tenant from the nonresidential building. In view of the above judgment the reliance of F. B. 's Judgment of Delhi High Court is not r. enable. " We may notice that this Court in Harbilas Rat Bansal v. State ofPunjab & Anr. , [1996] l SCC 1held such a provision to be unconstitutional, whereas in Gian Devi Anand v. Jeevan Kumar & Ors. , [1985: 2 SCC 683 somewhat ~ different note was struck. The question recently fell for consideration before a Three Judge Bench of this Court in Rakesh Vij v. Dr. Raminder Pal Singh Sethi & Ors.

, reported in [2005] 8 SCC 504 wherein this Court upheld the ratio laid down in Ha;bilas Rai Bansal (supra) stating : "We allow the appeal, set aside the impugned judgment of the High Court, declare the abovesaid provisions of the amendment as constitutionally invalid and as a consequence restore the original provisions of the Act which were operating before coming into force of the amendment. The net result is that a landlord under the Act can )> ... seek eviction of a tenant from a non-residential building on the ground that he requires it for his own use. " In view ofthe afore-mentioned decision of this Court, we are not called upon to answer the said question. The learned counsel appearing on behalf ofthe appellant faced with the said decision, however, submitted that whereas a clear finding of fact was .. .

, arrived at by the Rent Controller that the respondent had failed to prove his bona fide requirement in relation to the said premises in view of the fact that his sisters did not give any consent for starting a business in the said shop, ,, --(. the Appellate Authority did not delve deep into the matter. Our attention in ' this behalf has been drawn to the following findings of the Rent Controller: "The third ground which has been raised by the counsel for the respondent for nailing the ·pel - • the date of institution of the suit; the only exception being when by virtue of a subsequent event the entitlement of the body of co-owners to eject the tenant comes to an end by act of parties or by operation of law. "· A suit filed by a co-owner, thus, is maintain:ible in law. It is not necessary for the co-owner to show before initiating the eviction proceeding before the Rent Controller that he had taken option or c01:sent of the other co-owners.

However, in the event, a co-owner objects thereto, the same may be a relevant fact. In the instant case, nothing has been brought on record to show that the ... co-owners of the respondent had objected to eviction proceedings initiated by the respondent herein. The submission of the learned counsel for the appellant to the effect that before initiating the proceedings, the appellant was required to show that he had experience in running the business in Ayurvedic medicine, has to be stated to be rejected. There is no law which provides for such a precondition. It may be so where a licence is required for running a business, a statute may prescribe certain qualifications or pre-conditions without fulfilment whereof the landlord may not be ab le to start a business, but for running a wholesale business in Ayurvedic medicine, no qualification is prescribed. Experience in the business is not a pre-condition under any statute. >- io. Even no experience therefor may be necessary.

If the respondent has proved his bona fide requirement to evict the appellaD''. herein for his own purpose, this Court may not, unless an appropriate case is made out, disturb the finding of fact arrived at by the Appellate Authority and affirmed by the High Court. For the foregoing reasons, there is no merit in this appeal. It is dismissed. In the facts and circumstances of this case, there shall be no order as to costs. ~ "f S. K. S. Appeal dismissed.