This judgement is for aLandlord and a tenant dispute for rented premises in Vadodra, Gujarat. In this case the landlord filed arent petition against the tenant who was not paying the rent for the rented premises. The landlord filed the case on the basis of non-payment of rent and got successful in evicting the tenant. The landlord was the owner of a building situated at Vadodara City consisting of ground floor, first floor and second floor. The ground floor of the suit premises was rented out tothe tenant in the year 1958 on a monthly rent @ Rs.30/-.The tenant was using the rented premises for running a hair cutting salon. The tenant was not paying the rent regularly, the arrears were due for twenty-two months.A notice was duly served by the owner/landlordto the tenant to pay the arrearswithin one month from the date of receipt of notice. The tenant neither paid the arrears nor paid any heed to the legal notice. The landlord thereafter pursued the legal remedy and filed a suit against the tenant on the ground of non-payment of rent.During the pendency of the suit, the tenant died and his legal heirs represented him.After looking into the evidence and witnesses, the Court allowed the rent suit on the ground of non-payment of rent by the tenant/lessee and also directed them to handover peaceful and vacant possession of the property to the owner/lessor.
In addition to this relief, the Court further stated that after the death of the original tenant, his legal representativesare not lawful tenants of the said premises moreover they have unlawfully sub-let the suit property to other tenant also, with a motive of depriving the original owner from obtaining peaceful and vacant possession of the suit premises. In an appeal in the Supreme Court by the landlord, it was held that as per thelaw,the tenant had not given the rent for more than six months. Hence, he is liable to be evicted form the rented premises.Moreover it was also proved that the tenants sub-leased the suit property and thus they are also liable to be evicted on the ground of subletting without the permission of the landlord. The court directed the tenants to handover vacant possession within two months from the date of the judgment, failing which the respondents shall be liable for contempt of this court apart from other remedies available in law.
Monnishaa Mahajan, Principal Attorney at Legal Help NRI. Monnishaa has an experience of more than 15 years in assisting and advising NRI's in resolving their disputes in India.