Chandigarh: Rent controller orders eviction of tenant from booth in Sector 22

Tribune News Service

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Chandigarh, March 25

Tenancy rights will automatically go only if a tenant purchases the entire share in the rented premises. For tenancy rights to go, the tenant has to purchase the entire property and then he has to be given the possession as the owner after the execution of the sale deed in his favour.

While ruling this, rent controller TPS Randhawa has issued an eviction order of a tenant from a booth in which he purchased only some percentage of the share. The rent controller has passed the significant judgment on the rent petition filed by a resident of Sector 20, Chandigarh, through counsel Anuj Raura.

Raura argued before the court that the petitioner had purchased 71.44 per cent share of the booth situated in Sector 22, Chandigarh. He required the booth for his personal use for opening a departmental store. He also alleged that the tenant also stopped paying the rent.

The tenant challenged the rent petition and claimed himself to be the co-owner of the booth. He said he was inducted as a tenant in the booth somewhere in 1960. The owner died in year 1981, leaving behind his eight legal heirs. He purchased 28.56 per cent share from two heirs. Thus, he became co-owner of 28.56 per cent share in the booth.

Raura argued that the respondent (tenant) had never surrendered his tenancy rights and mere purchase of share in the property in question did not extinguish his tenancy rights of the respondent. The law is well settled that if a tenant purchases 100 per cent share of the property, only then the tenancy rights were terminated and he was deemed to have become the owner of the property. If a tenant purchased only a fraction of the property, then his tenancy rights were not determined. The tenant had to be given possession only after the execution of the sale deed. In this case, no possession was given to the tenant after the execution of the sale deed in his favour.

The rent controller said: “Tenancy rights are terminated only if the tenant purchase 100 per cent share. In the present case, the tenant never came into possession after the execution of the sale deed as an owner, rather he continued in possession as the tenant he was prior to the execution of the sale deed dated July 31, 2017”.

“Even in his cross-examination, the respondent admitted that he was a tenant under the original owner and then after his death under his legal heirs. He was a tenant when the sale deed dated July 31, 2017 was executed in his favour. His tenancy with the owners from whom he purchased 28.56% share was never terminated. His tenancy with other co-owners was also not cancelled or terminated. Hence, in view of the above discussion, it stands proved that there exists a relationship of landlord and tenant between the parties. Since respondent has denied the relationship of the landlord and the tenant, which stands proved on the record, the respondent is liable to be evicted forthwith from the demised premises on the ground of non-payment of arrears of rent w.e.f. December 2013 and for personal use of the petitioner,” the rent controller said.

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