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U E Trade Corporation (India) Pvt Ltd vs. Dr. Bhupesh Mangla

Regular First Appeal · 2026:DHC:8130Decided 21 Sept 2026New Delhi Bench
RFA 566/2016CNR: DLHC010266692016
Justice Mini Pushkarna

Background

A corporate tenant appealed a trial court decree directing it to pay arrears of rent and "mesne profits" (compensation for wrongful occupation) to one co-owner/landlord of a Barakhamba Road flat in New Delhi. The dispute centred on when the tenant actually vacated and handed back possession, and whether a single co-owner had the authority to let, terminate, and sue over jointly-owned property amid a family partition dispute.

Decision Breakdown

The High Court held that a co-owner can validly let out property, terminate a tenancy, and sue for eviction and rent on behalf of all co-owners, unless the other co-owners actively object, which none had done here. It found the tenant remained a "tenant at sufferance," liable to pay compensation until it actually and unconditionally restored possession, which the trial court had correctly found to be 3rd February 2010 (not the earlier date the tenant claimed). The Court upheld the trial court's method of calculating mesne profits using comparable lease deeds of similar flats in the same building, along with 9% annual interest, and dismissed the appeal.

Lesson Learnt

A tenant who overstays after a lease has ended remains liable to pay market-rate compensation until it actually and fully hands back possession: merely offering to return the keys, without doing so, does not stop this liability.

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