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Anil Bajaj v. Vinod Ahuja

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 5513 of 2014)Decided 8 May 2014
Civil Appeal No. 5513 of 2014
Justice Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya · Justice Ranjan Gogoi

Background

A Delhi shopkeeper sought his tenant's main-road premises to improve a business operating from a narrow lane. The tenant sought leave to contest eviction because the landlords allegedly owned or used other properties. The High Court allowed a trial into those property interests after the rent controller had refused leave.

Decision Breakdown

The Court allowed the landlords' appeal and restored the rent controller's order. A tenant needs to raise a genuine triable issue, but the asserted existence of other business premises did not do so on this record. The proposed personal use of the main-road shop was not disputed, and the landlord had offered an exchange with the narrow-lane premises. A tenant could not dictate which premises the landlord should use for the business. Even accepting the tenant's assertions here, they did not defeat the bona fide requirement sufficiently to warrant leave to defend.

Lesson Learnt

Other premises do not automatically negate a landlord's genuine need for a particular business location. A tenant seeking leave to contest must raise a relevant triable issue rather than merely propose a different business arrangement.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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