Wife not appendage to her husband, can retain her need to be financially independent, says Delhi HC
The bench noted that the law provides for eviction of a tenant on the need of dependants, and ruled that married daughters are included among dependents of their parents, for commercial/residential space.
The HC said that for a lease to a tenant who would enjoy protection under rent control statutes or protected tenancies, a Mutawalli has the right to induct or evict a tenant/licensee, keeping it in mind the needs and objectives of the wakfs. (File Image) Observing that a wife is not an “appendage” or an “adjunct” to her husband, the Delhi High Court has directed a tenant to vacate the premises proposed to be used by the daughters of a landlord, a “Mutawalli of a Wakf-ul-aulad”, for starting their business in the city.
A single judge bench of Justice Najmi Waziri was hearing a plea by the landlord against the dismissal of his petition by the Additional Rent Controller, Tis Hazari, for eviction of his tenant. The bench in its July 7 order noted that the law provides for eviction of a tenant on the need of dependants, and ruled that married daughters are included among dependents of their parents, for commercial/residential space. The court also observed that it cannot be assumed that the wife is subservient to her husband and is obliged to disclose to her husband the details of all her finances.
The Additional Rent Controller, Tis Hazari, had earlier dismissed the eviction petition on several grounds including that the landlord’s wife ran a hotel and he did not disclose aspects of this business, and that the daughters were well settled in their matrimonial life and had never worked before.
“A wife is neither an appendage of nor an adjunct to her husband. Her identity does not merge with or get subsumed in her husband’s identity. In law, she retains her individual entity. She retains her natural right to pursue her dreams, aspirations and the desire and need to be financially independent or otherwise do some meaningful social work. Idle luxuriation may not be the life-goal of many a woman or to be simply known as a rich man’s wife. There is a certain self-worth which a person acquires by running her or his own business/commercial enterprise, vocation and professional activity. This aspiration cannot be questioned in proceedings for eviction of a tenant on the ground of bonafide requirement of the tenanted premises,” the HC said.
The court also said that ordinarily, for a daughter, irrespective of her matrimonial status, her paternal/maternal home is always a “psychological, physical and emotional sanctuary, a place to which she can relate and return to freely, irrespective of how far she is geographically located from her parents”.
The petitioner landlord, a senior citizen suffering from many ailments had sought eviction of the tenant from his shop in Sadar Bazar on the ground that his two married daughters were unemployed and wished to utilise the property for their commercial aspirations. He had also argued that there was a need for him to conduct his business from the ground floor.
The HC said that for a lease to a tenant who would enjoy protection under rent control statutes or protected tenancies, a Mutawalli has the right to induct or evict a tenant/licensee, keeping it in mind the needs and objectives of the wakfs.
“In the present case, the wakf is for the aulad ie the children /descendants of the wakif. The appellant is the Mutawalli, its manager, and has every right to file the eviction petition for his benefit and for the benefit of the children, so that the latter could have financial independence and realise their aspirations as businesswomen,” the HC said calling the lower court’s inquiry into the education and qualification of the daughters for starting a business as “unnecessary”.
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