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Smt. Sudama Devi & Ors. v. Vijay Nath Gupta & Anr.

Civil Appeal · 2018 INSC 350Decided 17 Apr 2018
Civil Appeal No. 5903 of 2012
Justice R.K. Agrawal · Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre

Background

A landlord sued his tenant for eviction from a rented house in Gorakhpur, alleging arrears of rent from January 1977 onwards under the U.P. Rent Act. The Trial Court, the Revisional Court, and later the High Court all ruled against the tenant and upheld the eviction decree. The tenant's legal heirs (he died during the litigation) appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing they were entitled to relief under Section 20(4) of the Act (which lets a tenant avoid eviction by paying up arrears at the first hearing).

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that Section 20(4)'s protection does not apply here because of its proviso: the tenant's son (a "family" member under the Act) had built his own residential house in the same city, even though the son lived separately from his father. The Court rejected the argument that the proviso only applies if the family member lives with the tenant, finding the statutory language plain and unambiguous: three things must be shown (a family member built/acquired a house, it is vacant, and it's in the same city), and living arrangements are not a fourth requirement. The appeal was dismissed, but the appellants were given three months to vacate on condition of depositing the arrears and damages within two weeks.

Lesson Learnt

Under rent-control laws with similar provisions, a tenant cannot claim protection from eviction for non-payment of rent if any family member (such as an adult son) has already built or acquired a vacant house in the same city: it does not matter whether that family member actually lives with the tenant.

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

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