M/S R D Sales Corporation Etc vs Anoop Singh Gill

Headnote AI-drafted · Reviewed and approved

Four civil revision petitions arising out of the same demised premises — Shed No.433-A, Industrial Area, Phase-II, Chandigarh — were heard together and disposed of by a common order. The petitioners (tenants) challenged proceedings initiated by the respondent (landlord) under Section 13 of the East Punjab Urban Rent Restrictions Act, 1949, seeking ejectment on grounds of change of user, material impairment of value and utility of premises, premises having become unfit and unsafe for human habitation, and bona fide necessity of the landlord.

The landlord claimed ownership through an agreement to sell, irrevocable general power of attorney, affidavit, and Will executed by the original allottee Smt. Swaraj Katari, and sought eviction inter alia on the ground that tenants had not paid rent since August 2007 and had changed the user of the industrial premises for trading in electrical goods in violation of the terms of allotment under the Chandigarh Sale of Sites and Building Rules, 1960. The tenants disputed the landlord-tenant relationship with the respondent, contending that the agreement to sell and power of attorney did not transfer ownership and that rent had been continuously paid to the original landlady by account payee cheques.

The High Court examined the validity of the attorn­ment, the maintainability of the rent petition by the respondent as landlord, and the various grounds of eviction raised before the Rent Controller, Chandigarh, in Rent Petition No. 24 of 2015.

Catchwords: East Punjab Urban Rent Restrictions Act · tenancy · ejectment · change of user · bona fide necessity · landlord-tenant relationship · agreement to sell · irrevocable general power of attorney · attorn­ment · industrial premises · Chandigarh · material impairment · arrears of rent · Chandigarh Sale of Sites and Building Rules