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Murlidhar Aggarwal (D.) Thr. His LR. Atul Kumar Aggarwal v. Mahendra Pratap Kakan (D.) Thr. LRs.

Civil Appeal · 2025 INSC 564Decided 24 Apr 2025
Civil Appeal No. 4275 of 2017
Justice M.M. Sundresh · Justice K.V. Viswanathan

Background

In 1952, the tenant's predecessor took a 10-year lease on a cinema hall (Mansarovar Palace) in Allahabad; the landlord's predecessor, Murlidhar Aggarwal, bought the property a decade later and, from 1975, spent 50 years pursuing eviction on the ground that he genuinely needed the building for his own livelihood, having no independent business or sufficient income. The original trial-level authority (the Prescribed Authority) found the landlord's need genuine and ordered eviction, but the Appellate Authority reversed this, and the Allahabad High Court upheld that reversal, leading the landlord's heir to appeal to the Supreme Court after Murlidhar Aggarwal himself died during the litigation.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court found the Appellate Authority's reversal legally unsound because it never properly engaged with the Prescribed Authority's detailed, evidence-based finding that the landlord's income was negative and his need was real, and instead relied on vague, unsubstantiated claims about the family's other businesses (many of which were shown to be defunct or unrelated). The Court held that bona fide need must be liberally construed, that the landlord's now-disabled son (who inherited the claim) had established continuing need under Section 21(7) of the U.P. Act of 1972, and that comparative hardship favoured the landlord's family given the tenant had held the premises for 73 years (63 years beyond the original lease term) without ever showing any attempt to find alternative premises. The High Court's judgment was set aside, the eviction was restored, and the tenants were given until 31 December 2025 to hand over vacant possession.

Lesson Learnt

In landlord-tenant disputes over personal-need eviction, once a lower authority makes a well-reasoned, evidence-backed finding of genuine need, an appellate body cannot overturn it based on vague or unproven allegations, and courts will weigh how long a tenant has overstayed a lease, and whether they ever sought alternative premises, heavily in the landlord's favour.

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

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