Holding

The landlords possessed bona fides to invoke Section 14(1)(b); eviction is permissible, subject to the condition that the reconstruction plans be approved before execution.

Summary

The tenant, Harrington House School, occupied an old, partially built property and ran an unrecognised private school. The landlords, who are builders, sought eviction under Section 14(1)(b) of the Tamil Nadu Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1960, to demolish the dilapidated structure and erect a multistorey complex. Lower tribunals denied eviction, holding the landlords lacked bona fides because they did not rely on the building's age or condition; the High Court reversed this and ordered eviction. The Supreme Court held that the landlords' intention to reconstruct, their financial capacity, and the building’s dilapidated state collectively established bona fides, and that the age and condition of the building is only one factor, not determinative. Consequently, eviction was upheld, but the Court conditioned execution on the landlords obtaining local authority approval of the reconstruction plans and filing an undertaking. The appeal was dismissed and the High Court decree sustained with the stipulated conditions.

Issues considered

Whether the landlords are entitled to invoke Section 14(1)(b) of the Tamil Nadu Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1960 for eviction when they did not expressly rely on the age and condition of the building.
Whether public interest considerations can defeat eviction of a private school in favour of the landlord’s redevelopment plans.
Whether the eviction decree can be executed without the landlord first obtaining approval of the reconstruction plans from the local authority.

Legislation cited

Tamil Nadu Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1960s. 14(1)(b), s. 14(2)(b)

Subjects

evictionSection 14(1)(b)bona fideslandlordtenantrent controldemolitionreconstructionpublic interestplan approval

Judgment

HARRINGTON HOUSE SCHOOL A
v.
S.M. ISPAHANI AND ANR.

MAY 9, 2002

[R.C. LAHOTI AND B.N. AGARWAL, JJ.) B

Rent and Eviction :

Ta111il Nadu Buildings (Lease and Rent ('011trol) Act, 1960-SecLion
14(/)(b)-Availability of ground under-Eviction for demolition of disputed C
building and construction of n1ultistorey building-Age und condilion of the
building not relied on-Courts below finding that the building was old
£filapidated needing reconstruction-·~Eviction orller by Trial Court-Appellate
Court not gral!ling eviction doubting bonafide of' landlord in absence of'
reliance on the age and condition of the building-High Cou,., 'Jrdered for D
eviction-On appeal-Held, in the facts of the case bow of landlord
.. could not be doubted-Hence, tenant liable to be evicted.

The suit premises, major portion of,vhich was unbuilt and the built
up portion "'as old dilapidated one, was bci· g used by appellant-tenant
for running an unrecongnised school for chi dren of non-resident Indians. E

Landlords-respondents \'Vho '"ere builders by profession filed suit for
eviction uls 14(l)(b) of Tam.ii Nadu Buildings (Lease and Rent Control)
Act, 1960 for the immediate purpose of demolition so as to construct a
multistorey complex thereat.
F
The plans for construction were ready but the same were not
submitted for approval in view of the fact that delay in disposal of litigation
would entail heavy financial burden on the landlords.

During trial, landlord stated that several ·multistorey buildings had G
come up in the vicinity of the suit property and showed how they proposed
to arrange for the funds required for the construction. Trial Court ordered
for eviction. Appellate Court denied eviction on the ground that the
landlords were not entitled to invoke Section 14(1)(b) of the Act as they
lacked bonaflde since they did llOt rely on the condition of the building
929 l~.
~--

930 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] 3 S.C.R.

A for the purpose of demolition and reconstruction. In revision, High Court ."'-
ordered for eviction.

In appeal to this Court appellant-tenant contended that since the
landlords did not rely on the age and condition of the building and they
required it only to construct the multistorey building, the ground under
B section 14(1)(b) of the Act was not available to them; that it would not be
in public interest to order for eviction resulting in closure of school only
to serve the private interest of the landlord. Tenant apprehended that
property might remain lying unconstructed despite being vacated, if plans
for proposed construction were not sanctioned.
c Disposing of the appeal, the Court.

HELD : 1. There is nothing to cast a shadow of doubt on the
bonajides of the landlords pleading an immediate need for demolition
followed by reconstruction. In the present case it has been found that the
D building is an old construction requiring demolition and reconstruction.
Out of the total area of the property only a part is built up and substantial
portion is lying open and vacant. There is pressure of population on the
developing city and several multistorey complexes have come up in the
vicinity of the property. No fault can be found with the finding of fact
E arrived at by the High Court. It is true that the landlords have not pleaded
and relied on the age and condition of the building as one of the
components of their bonajides but that is immaterial. The age and condition
of the building has been determined and is available for assessing the
bonajides of the landlords' need. 1933-F-H; 934-BI

F Vijay Singh and Ors. v. Vijayalakshmi Ammpl, 119961 6 SCC 475, y-
followed:

R. VE. Venkatachala Gounder v. Venkatesha Gupta and Ors., JT ( 2002) .
SC 591, relied on.

G P. Orr and Sons (P) ltd. v. Associated Publishers (Madras) ltd., 119911
1 sec 301, referred to.

2. It cannot be doubted that landlords are men of means. There is
nothing to doubt the truthfulness of the statement of landlord explaining
+-
H how they proposed to arrange for the funds required for reconstruction· '
HARRINGTON HOUSE SCHOOL,. S M. ISPAHANI [RC LAHOTI. J.] 93 J

as per their plans. 1934-C, DI A
3. Eviction u/s 14(1) (b) cannot be denied in the name of public
interest. The school is an unrecognised private school run by the tenant
catering to the need of non-resident Indians who have to leave their
children behind in the country. Indeed, the school is being run not for a
social service, but for the private earnings of the tenant. The proposed B
reconstruction w.ould put the property to optimum utility and would be
able to provide roof over the head of and shelter for many a families
hitherto deprived of the same and may also provide additional space for
business and com~erce, if a part of the proposed construction will be
commercial. 1934-E-FI C
4. The decree passed by the High Court is sustained but it is directed
that the landlords shall submit the plans of reconstruction for the approval
of the local authority. Only on the plans being sanctioned by the local
authority the decree for eviction shall be available for execution. Such
sanctioned or approved plans shall be produced before the Executing D
Court whereupon the Executing Court shall allow a reasonable time to
the tenant for vacating the property and delivering possession to the
landlords-decree holders. 1935-D-EI

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 770 of E
2000.

From the Judgment and Order dated 24.12.1999 of the Chennai High
Court in C.R.P. No. 975 of 1996.

S. Aravindh for Rakesh K. Sharma, for the Appellants.
F
S. Sivasubramanium and V. Ramasubramanian for the Respondents.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

R.C. LAHOTI, J. A suit for eviction of the tenant-appellant filed by
the landlord-respondent on the ground available under clause (b) of sub- G
Section (I) of Section 14 of the Tamil Nadu Buildings (Lease and Rent
Control) Act 1960 was dismissed by the Rent Controller. The Appellate
-+ Authority upheld the denial of eviction. In a revision preferred by the landlord-
respondent, the High Court has reversed the orders of the Rent Controller and
the Appellate Authority and directed the tenant appellant to be evicted. Feeling H
932 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2002] 3 S.C.R.

A aggrieved thereby the tenant has filed this appeal by special leave.

The relevant facts are not in controversy and may be summed up briefly
as follows. The suit premises consist of a total area of 53800 square feet out
of which 6823 square feet is built up while 46977 square feet is lying as open
land. The property is identified as Door No. 21 Trimurti Nagar, Main Road
B Nungampakkam, Chennai-34. The building was about 50 years old in the
.
year 1982, i.e., about 70 years old by this time. Exchange of letters between
the parties reveals that the tenant had informed the landlord that some part

-
of the building needed urgent repairs and any further delay could prove to be
dangerous. Some imminent repairs were carried out by the tenant itself. The
·C premises are being utilized by the tenant for the purpose of running a school
wherein there are about 200 students with 15 members of teaching staff and
8 members of non-teaching staff. However, the school is unrecognized and
mainly caters to the need of children of non-resident Indians.

The landlords are builders by profession and need the suit premises for
D the immediate purpose of demolition so as to construct a multi-storey complex
thereat. According to the statement on oath of S.A. lspahani--one of landlords,
several multi-storey buildings have come up in the vicinity of this property
and this part of the statement has not been challenged in cross-examination.
The plans of the proposed construction are ready and have been tendered in
evidence though the plans have not been submitted to the local authority for
,._
E approval. This aspect we shall advert to a little later.

The learned counsel for the tenant has urged that the High Court in
exercise of its revisional jurisdiction ought not to have interfered with the
finding of fact arrived at by the Appellate Authority. He further submitted
F that the age and condition of the building is one of the relevant considerations T
while testing the availability of ground under Section 14(1)(b) of the Act but
the landlords do not rely on this factor; rather S.A. Ispahani, PW I, has
admitted in his deposition that the landlords were not depending upon the
condition of the building for demolition and reconstruction. Their purpose
was only to construct a multi-storey building so as to earn more and put the
-
G property to the best profitable utilization to their own advantage. A perusal
of the judgments of the Rent Controller, the Appellate Authority and the
High Court shows all of them having arrived at a finding that the building
was an old dilapidated building and needed to be reconstructed. However, the
Appellate Court denied eviction solely on the ground that on the own admission
H of the landlords, the landlords were not relying on the condition of the building
HARRINGTON HOUSE SCHOOL,. S.M. ISPAHANI [R.C. LAHOTI, J.] 933

for the purpose of demolition and reconstruction and, therefore, they were A
lacking in bona fides and not entitled to invoke Section 14( 1)(b) of the Act.

The judicial opinion centering around Section 14(l)(b) of the Act, as
it has travelled through the passage of times has been noticed in a recent
decision of this Court in R. VE. Venkatachala Gounder v. V~nkatesha Gupta B
and Ors. JT (2002) 3 SC 591. Three-judge Bench decision of this Court in
P. Orr and Sons (P) Ltd v. Associated Publishers (Madras) Ltd., [1991] 1

-
SCC 301, held the field up to the year 1996. The view taken th.erein was that
it was the condition of the building which was determinative of the degree
of urgency warranting demolition followed by reconstruction of the building
and on such finding depended the. bona fides of the requirement within the C
meaning of Section 14(1 )(b) of the Act. However, the Constitution Bench
decision in Vijay Singh and Ors. v. Vijayalakshmi Ammal, [1996] 6 SCC 475
watered down the effect of holding of this Court in P.Orr and Sons (supra)
and held that the age and condition of the building was only one of the
relevant factors, and certainly not the sole determinative factor, for testing
the bona fides of the landlord. The Constitution Bench held that the bona D
tides of requirement for demolition could be found out by taking into account
(i) bona fide intention of the landlord far from the sole object only to get rid
of the tenants, (ii) the age and condition of the building, (iii) the financial
position of the landlord to demolish and erect a new building. However, the
Constitution Bench added that these were only some of the illustrative factors E
to be taken into consideration before an order is passed under Section 14(l)(b).
In R. VE. Venkatachala-Gounder (supra) this Court has held that apart from
the age and condition of the building the capacity of the landlord to demolish
and reconstruct, the useful utilization of the property which would on
demolition and reconstruction make available more space to be occupied by
human beings for residential/non-residential purposes and the genuine desire F
of the landlord to earn economic advantage are relevant factors pointing to
the bona fides of the requirement. In the present case it has been found that
the building is an old construction requiring demolition and reconstruction.
Out of the total area of the property only a part is built up and substantial
portion is lying open and vacant. There is pressure of population on the G
developing city and several multi-storey complexes have come up in the
' vicinity of the property. There is nothing to cast a shadow of doubt on the
bona fides of the landlords pleading an immediate need for demolition followed
by reconstruction. No fault can be found with the finding of fact arrived at
by the High Court. The decision by the Appellate Court was rendered on 25th
February, 1994 when three-Judge Bench decision of this Court in P.Orr & H
934 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2002] 3 S.C.R.

A Sons (supra) was holding the field and in view of the construction placed by
this Court in P. Orr & Sons the Appellate Court was persuaded to deny
eviction in spite of the finding of facts being for the landlord. The High Court
has rightly set aside the judgment of the Appellate Authority and ordered
eviction following the law laid down by the Constitution Bench in Vijay

-
B Singh and Ors. case. It is true that the landlords have not pleaded and relied
on the age and condition of the building as one of the components of their
bona jides but that is immaterial. The age and condition of the building has
been determined and is available for assessing the bona tides of the landlords'
need.

C It cannot be doubted that the landlords are men of means. They have
placed documentary evidence on record to show that they are income-tax and
wealth-tax assessees. S.A. lspahani, PWI has explained in his statement how
the landlords proposed to arrange for the funds required for reconstruction as
per their plans and there is nothing to ·doubt the truthfulness of the statement
so made.
D
The learned counsel for the appellant faintly urged at .the end that a
school is running in the tenancy premises and it will not be in public interest ~· •
to order eviction resulting in closure of school only to serve the private
interest of the landlords. Such a plea aims at touching the emotions and not
the law yet we may quickly dispose it of as of no consequence by exploding
E the myth in it. The school is an unrecognized private school run by the tenant
catering to the need of non-resident Indians who have to leave their children
behind in the country. Indeed, the school is being run not for a social service, ·
but for the private earnings of the tenant. The proposed reconstruction would
put the property to optimum utility and would be able to provide roof over
F the head of and shelter for many a families hitherto deprived of the same and
may also provide additional space for business and commerce if a part of the

G
proposed construction will be commercial. We do not think that in such
circumstances eviction under Section 14( 1)(b) can be denied in the name of
public interest.

In view of what has been stated herein above we do not find any ground
-
for interfering with the judgment of the High Court holding the tenant liable
to be evicted under Section 14( I )(b) of the Act. However, there is only one
aspect that needs to be taken care of and that we propose to deal with at the
end and now. In the city of Chennai a building cannot be constructed except
H on the plans of proposed construction being approved by the local authority.
HARRINGTON HOUSE SCHOOL" S.M. ISPAHANI lR.C. LAHOTI, J.] 935

Though the plan of proposed reconstruction is ready with the landlords but A
the same has not been submitted to the Municipal Corporation till now. For
this omission the explanation given by the landlords through S.A. lspahani,
PW! is that a substantial amount is charged by the local authority by way of
fee for sanctioning the plans for reconstruction and if the reconstruction is
not carried out within a limited time the sanction has to be kept renewed B
periodically for which the local authority again charges a substantial amount
oy way of renewal fee. The phenomenal delay in disposal of litigation entails
heavy financial burden on the landlord and that is why they have not submitted
the plans for approval though ready. There appears to be some substance in
the plea inasmuch as we find that this litigation itself has taken about 14
years by this time in achieving a finality. A procedure can be devised to C
protect the interests of both - the tenant and the landlord, specially by
taking care of the apprehension expressed by the tenant that the property may
remain lying unconstructed in spite of being vacated by the tenant and followed
by demolition if the plans for proposed reconstruction are not sanctioned by
the local authority. The decree as passed by the High Court is sustained but
it is directed that the landlords shall submit the plans of reconstruction for the D
approval of the local authority. Only on the plans being sanctioned by the
local authority the decree for eviction shall be available for execution. Such
sanctioned or approved plans shall be produced before the Executing Court
whereupon the Executing Court shall allow a reasonable time to the tenant
for vacating the property and delivering possession to the landlord- E
decreeholders. Till then the tenant shall remain liable to pay charges for use
and occupation of the suit premises at the san1e rate at which they are being
paid. Along with the plans the landlords shall also file an undertaking before
the Executing Court as required by clause (b) of sub-Section (2) of Section
14 of the Act. Subject to the said modification the decree as passed by the
High Court is maintained. The appeal stands disposed of No order as to the F
costs.

K.K.T. Appeal disposed of.