A landlord can continue eviction proceedings against his tenant even after taking possession of the disputed building from the latter, the Supreme Court has held.
“Merely because the landlords have taken possession on the basis of an order for eviction granted on one ground, that does not mean that the surviving grounds have become non-est,” a Bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and R. Banumathi interpreted the rent control laws.
23-year-old case
The court was deciding on the interplay between Section 11(4)(iii) and Section 11(4)(iv) of the Kerala Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1965. The judgment was based on a 23-year-old rent dispute case based in Vadakara district in Kerala.
Under Section 11 (4) (iii), a tenant can be evicted on the ground that he has other buildings in the same city which would suit the purposes, residential or official, for which he is using the disputed rental building.
Under Section 11 (4) (iv), the landlord can seek the eviction of his tenant for the purpose of demolition or reconstruction of the rental building. In the present case, the local rent control court allowed the plea for eviction on the ground of demolition and reconstruction but not on the fact that his tenant was in possession of another building in the same place.
The landlord successfully moved the First Appellate Authority for relief also under Section 11 (4) (iii). The tenants moved the Kerala High Court, which held that a landlord cannot continue to seek eviction on various grounds after he has already been granted relief under one, that is under Section 11 (4) (iv) for the purpose of demolition and reconstruction.
