DIPIKA ARORA Vs. S N SEHGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner claiming to be the owner/landlordof premises No. M-134, Greater Kailash-I, New Delhi, filed an eviction petitionagainst the respondents under clause (e) to Proviso to Sub-section (1) of Section 14of the Delhi Rent Control Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act). The petitionwas filed on 14/05/1982. After a protracted trial it was dismissed by the Addl.Rent Controller vide judgment dated 22.1.1990. The petitioner has challenged thesaid judgment of the Additional Rent Controller in the present proceedings.

(2.) Briefly stated the facts are that the premises in suit was let out to therespondents by the mother of the petitioner in February 1969 in pursuance of anagreement of lease for II months entered into between the parties on 23/05/1971.Vide gift deed dated 29/03/1971 the property in suit was gifted by themother of the petitioner. The gift deed is a duly registered document. Theproperty has been mutated in the name of the petitioner in the records of theMunicipal Corporation of Delhi. The respondents started paying rent to thepetitioner from 1971 in view of the said gift deed in favour of the petitioner. Thepetitioner claims to be the owner of the premises on the basis of the said gift deed.It is further stated by the petitioner that the premises .is located in a residential areaand was let out for residential purpose to the respondents since the very inceptionof the tenancy. Respondent No. 1 alongwith family members had been residingin the premises all along. The case of the petitioner is that the premises is requiredby the petitioner/landlady bona fide for occupation as a residence for herself, herhusband and two daughters. The husband and the minor daughters are dependenton the petitioner for purposes of residence. The petitioner has no other residentialaccommodation available to her in Delhi. The petitioner is a woman of status beingassessed to income-tax and wealth-tax. The petitioner is residing with her husbandand her two daughters in a small room as a temporary guest of her younger sisterin her house at M-144, Greater Kailash-l, New Delhi. The said sister with herfamily is residing with her in-laws in the said joint family house. The petitionerfurther claimed that she has shifted to Delhi as her husband has started businessat New Delhi and the petitioner's daughters have started their education atDelhi. The petitioner also stated in the eviction petition that she was living in avery awkard position and the respondents were requested to vacate the premisesand respondent No. 1 promised to do so at the earliest. But the promises nevermaterialised.

(3.) In the written statement the respondents denied all the averments ofthe petitioner including the averment that the petitioner was the owner/landladyof the suit premises and that the premises were let for residential purposes.According to the tenant the premises were let for residential-cum-commercialpurposes. The bona fide need of the petitioner for the suit premises was alsodenied. It was stated that the petitioner was living alone with her husbandpermanently at Lucknow. The petitioner's husband was stated to be carrying onbusiness at Lucknow under the name and style of Hind Shoe Company. He wasfiling income-tax returns of his business at Lucknow. The respondent deniedthat the petitioner's husband was having any business whatsoever at Delhi. Theaverment that the petitioner was residing at M-144, Greater Kailash-l, New Delhiasaguest of her younger sister was also denied. It was stated that the petitionerand her husband were having their names in the voters' list and telephonedirectory at Lucknow which showed that they were residents of Lucknow. ltwasalso stated that the mother of the petitioner has a very big house at C-II, N.D.S.E.Part II, New Delhi where the petitioner stays whenever she comes to Delhi and,therefore, residence with the sister at M-144, Greater Kailash-l, New Delhi wasonly a pretence to show scarcity of accommodation. The mother of the petitioneris all alone residing in the house at N.D.S.E., Part-11, New Delhi.