Journalism of Courage
Rent Controller asks jeweller to vacate shop owned by Kirron Kher, her sister in Chandigarh
The petition stated that the building was required to set up a health centre-cum-gymnasium-cum-spa on the first, second and third floors.
The Rent Controller Monday ordered a city-based jeweller to vacate a part of the first floor of a shop-cum-office — about 400 square feet — in Chandigarh sector 17E and hand over the possession of the premises to Kanwal Thakar Singh, a sister of Member of Parliament Kirron Kher, within a month. The property is co-owned by Kirron Kher too.
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Singh had filed a rent petition under Section 13-B of the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949, as extended to UT Chandigarh, for eviction of tenants Arun Jain and Rajesh Jain.
In the petition, it was claimed that Singh and Kher each owned 50% share in the property.
She stated that she required the building to set up a health centre-cum-gymnasium-cum-spa on the first, second and third floors. However, the counsel for the respondents argued that the petition had not been filed with the consent of the other co-owner.
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The court didn’t find merit in the argument and said it doesn’t affect the status of the petitioner as landlord being a co-owner. The court observed, “The present petition is found to be maintainable. Also, petitioner has been successful in establishing her bonafide personal requirement of the tenanted premises and her status as NRI. Petitioner has also been able to prove her relationship of landlord-tenant with the respondents and also that in these peculiar circumstances, she did not obtain consent from the co-owners since there was no objection. She has also been able to establish that the petition is not bad for non-joinder of M/s J.K. Jewelers as a respondent.”
It was also specified, “The respondents are liable to be evicted from the tenanted premises that is portion of First Floor measuring 400 Square Feet approximately of Shop-cum-Office No.18, Sector 17-E, Chandigarh on the ground of bonafide requirement of the petitioner for personal use and occupation. Respondents are ordered to be evicted from the tenanted premises and they are directed to hand over the vacant possession of tenanted premises within period of one month from the date of order failing which the petitioner will be at liberty to approach the Court to take vacant possession of the tenanted premises, in accordance with law.”
The verdict was passed after the court stated, “It is a settled law that the consent of other co-owners is not a precondition and so long as the co-owners do not have an objection to the eviction petition, the plea for eviction shall be maintainable.”