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Kamaljit Singh v. Sarabjit Singh

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 8410 of 2014)Decided 2 Sept 2014
Civil Appeal No. 8410 of 2014
Justice T.S. Thakur · Justice C. Nagappan

Background

A landlord returned from the United Kingdom after thirty years and sought possession of a shop for his own business under Punjab's special NRI eviction provision. The tenant admitted renting from him but disputed whether the sale deeds proved ownership of the particular shop. Lower courts rejected eviction for failure to prove five years' ownership.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court ordered eviction and reversed the lower courts. A tenant who entered possession under this landlord could not deny the landlord's title at the tenancy's beginning while retaining possession. Their admitted landlord-tenant relationship since 1992 satisfied the relevant ownership period as against this tenant. Time to vacate until 31 March 2015 was conditional on an undertaking, payment of arrears and ₹2,000 monthly use-and-occupation charges; default made eviction immediately enforceable.

Lesson Learnt

A tenant normally cannot keep possession obtained from a landlord while denying that landlord's original title. The rule has exceptions, such as a later loss of title, but no such exception was established here.

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

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