ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a landlord was the best judge of his personal needs, and a tenant could not dictate which property the landlord should use to fulfill those needs.
A two-member bench, comprising Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi and Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, issued the judgment in a case concerning the eviction of a tenant from a flat for the landlord’s personal use.
The case titled Nafees Ahmed v. Mrs. Shaheen Begum. The decision set aside the Sindh High Court decision and restored the Rent Controller’s order for the tenant’s eviction.
The case relates to a building named Farooq Manzil in Karachi, where co-owner Nafees Ahmed sought eviction of a tenant from his flat for personal use. The Rent Controller initially dismissed his application. However, on appeal, the sessions judge ordered the eviction of the tenant.
The tenant challenged the sessions court’s decision in the Sindh High Court, which set aside the eviction order. The landlord subsequently challenged the High Court’s decision in the Supreme Court.
An eight-page judgment, authored by Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, observed that the landlord had stated his personal requirement on oath, and that his claim had been established as genuine during cross-examination.
The court held that the existence of other flats in the same building did not make the landlord’s personal requirement doubtful.
“The landlord has the right to decide which of his properties he wishes to use for his own needs, and a tenant cannot compel the landlord to use an alternative property,” says the judgment.
The court further held that the Sindh High Court had not been legally justified in re-appraising the evidence and overturning the findings of the sessions court.
