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M/S. A. J. Shetty and Co. Pvt. Ltd. v. St. Antony's Charity Institutes and Others

Civil Appeal · 2025 INSC 547Decided 23 Apr 2025
C.A. No.-005468-005468 - 2025
Justice B.R. Gavai · Justice Augustine George Masih

Background

A.J. Shetty & Co., which ran "Hotel Motimahal" on land leased from St. Antony's Charity Institutes since 1961, was sued for eviction after the Charity refused to renew the lease in 2009. The trial court and the Karnataka High Court both ruled against the company, ordering it to vacate and pay mesne profits. On appeal, the Supreme Court referred the matter to mediation, where the parties reached a settlement requiring the company to vacate by 30 April 2025 and pay a reduced, revised amount of mesne profits. A complication arose because the same premises house a hotel-management college (Moti Mahal College of Hotel Management) with about 250 enrolled students, and the company's permanent new campus would not be ready for two years.

Decision Breakdown

The Court recorded and accepted the settlement agreement between the company and the Charity, modifying the mesne-profits decree as agreed. Separately, invoking its special "complete justice" power under Article 142 of the Constitution, the Court directed AICTE and Mangalore University not to insist, for two years, that the college's premises be owned or held on a 30-year lease (the normal regulatory requirement), so the college can temporarily relocate without losing its recognition, provided it moves to a fully compliant permanent campus by 30 April 2027. The Court reasoned that strict enforcement of the infrastructure rule would needlessly jeopardize the education of 250 students despite the college's long, unblemished approval history.

Lesson Learnt

Courts can use their special constitutional powers to prevent innocent third parties (here, students) from being collaterally harmed by a private property dispute, but such relief comes with firm deadlines and conditions rather than an open-ended exemption from regulatory requirements.

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

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