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Siddhanth Mendiratta vs. Madhu Chawla & Sanjay Chawla

Regular First Appeal · 2026:DHC:8401Decided 28 Sept 2026New Delhi Bench
RFA 1008/2026CNR: DLHC010435542026
Justice Neena Bansal Krishna

Background

The plaintiffs (respondents), joint owners of a shop in a Delhi market, had let it out to the defendant/appellant's family business since 2014. A dispute arose over the actual monthly rent: the landlords said it had grown from Rs.25,500 to Rs.29,000 under a 2018 rent agreement, while the tenant claimed he paid only Rs.2,900 per month because he had separately given Rs.10,00,000 in cash toward a "mortgage" of the shop. After the landlords terminated the tenancy in 2019 for non-payment of rent, they sued for possession, arrears, and mesne profits (compensation for continued unauthorised use).

Decision Breakdown

The trial court had decreed the suit, holding the tenant liable for rent at Rs.25,500/month (per the earliest, admitted 2014 agreement) plus a 15% mesne-profit enhancement every three years, since he could not prove he ever paid the alleged Rs.10 lakh "mortgage" amount, even his own mother and other witnesses failed to corroborate this claim. On appeal, the High Court rejected arguments that the rent agreement was improperly proved and that mesne profits were calculated without evidentiary basis, noting the tenant's own admissions in cross-examination confirmed the tenancy history and rent trajectory. The Court upheld the trial court's reliance on established precedent allowing courts to take judicial notice of rent escalation trends when awarding mesne profits. The appeal was dismissed in its entirety.

Lesson Learnt

A tenant who claims to have paid a large sum toward an informal "mortgage" or side arrangement must be able to prove it with solid evidence (receipts, corroborating witnesses): bare assertions, especially when contradicted by one's own family members under cross-examination, will not defeat a landlord's claim for rent and possession.

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