PANKAJ SHAH & ANR Vs. RAFAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The two plaintiffs viz. Pankaj Shah and Rajeev Shah have instituted this suit for, (i) recovery of possession of property No.241, Sukhdev Vihar, New Delhi; (ii) recovery of mesne profits; and, (iii) for permanent injunction restraining the defendant from interfering with the peaceful possession of the plaintiffs.

(2.) The counsel for the plaintiffs however states that the defendant is in exclusive possession of the property and the plaintiffs are not in possession of the property; the relief of permanent injunction thus can be only for the period after the plaintiffs have recovered possession from the defendant.

(3.) It is the case of the plaintiffs, that i) the father of the plaintiffs became a member of Sarai Julaina Cooperative House Building Society Ltd., the developer of the colony of Sukhdev Vihar and the plot of land underneath the property aforesaid was sub-leased to the father of the plaintiffs who had raised construction thereon; ii) the father of the plaintiffs died on 22nd May, 2001 leaving a Will dated 7th October, 1999 bequeathing the entire property in favour of the plaintiffs who are the only children of their parents and the mother of the plaintiffs had pre-deceased their father; iii) the defendant, who was known to the plaintiffs through the mother-inlaw of the plaintiff no.1, was appointed as the caretaker of the property as the plaintiff no.1 is a resident of USA and the plaintiff no.2 is a resident of Ahmedabad in Gujarat; iv) the defendant was also allowed to occupy one of the rooms in the property; v) that the plaintiffs, prior to the institution of the suit, asked the defendant to vacate the property but the defendant refused to do so and hence the present suit.