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Ram Murti Devi v. Pushpa Devi and Others

Civil Appeal · 2017 INSC 604Decided 11 Jul 2017
Civil Appeal No. 8954 of 2017
Justice A.K. Sikri · Justice Ashok Bhushan

Background

The appellant, a landlady in Uttar Pradesh, had let out a shop to a tenant and later sued for his eviction, claiming both non-payment of rent and that the tenant had illegally sub-let part of the shop to another person ("Moh. Ezaj") who was running his own watch-repair business there for Rs. 50 a day. The trial court (Judge, Small Causes Court) ruled in the landlady's favour on sub-letting and ordered eviction, but the Allahabad High Court, in a revision filed by the tenant, reversed this and held that sub-letting had not been proved.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court restored the trial court's finding, holding that the landlady had made a sufficient pleading and provided adequate evidence, including the tenant's own admission that Moh. Ezaj worked in the shop and that no employment records or statutory registration of him as an employee existed (as required under the UP Shops and Commercial Establishments Act). Drawing on a long line of precedent on sub-letting, the Court held that where a third party is shown to be in exclusive possession of part of a tenanted premises and no credible proof of an employer-employee relationship is produced, an inference of sub-tenancy for monetary consideration is justified, since such arrangements are typically concealed from the landlord and rarely provable by direct evidence. The Court also found that the High Court, exercising a narrower revisional (not appellate) jurisdiction, had exceeded its proper scope by re-weighing settled findings of fact. The appeal was allowed and the trial court's eviction order restored, though the tenants were given one year to vacate on filing an undertaking.

Lesson Learnt

A tenant who lets an outsider occupy and run a business from part of the rented premises for payment risks being found guilty of illegal sub-letting even without a written sub-lease: courts can infer sub-letting from circumstantial evidence such as exclusive possession and the absence of proof that the occupant was merely an employee.

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

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