SC: Landlord free to take decision on property use

The Supreme Court has ruled that court cannot dictate to the landlord which portion of his property he should use for commercial or residential purposes.


Allowing the appeal of the landlord Udai Shankar Upadhyaya against the order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, a bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and R M Lodha, noted, ‘In our opinion
once it is not disputed that the landlord is in bona fide need of the premises, it is not for the court to say that he should shift to the first floor or any higher floor.’ ‘It is well known that the shop and business are usually (though not invariably) conducted on the ground floor because customers can reach there easily. The court cannot dictate to the landlord which floor he should use for his business. That is for the landlord to decide.


Hence, the view of the court below that the sons of the landlord should do business on the first floor in the hall which is being used for residential purpose was, in our opinion, arbitrary and cannot be sustained the bench added.


The apex court, however, granted one-year time to the tenant, Navin Maheshwari, to vacate the shop in dispute on furnishing the usual undertaking within six weeks from the date of this order and ordered the tenant to continue to paying the rent during this period.