Case law, eviction petition is allowed on the grounds of sublet.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN

(Appellate Jurisdiction)

PRESENT:

Mr. Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar

Mr. Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi

Mr. Justice Irfan Saadat Khan

Civil Petition No.917-K of 2022

[Against the Judgment dated 07.03.2022, passed by the High Court of Sindh

Karachi in Constitutional Petition No. S-931 of 2021]

Ashfaq Hussain and another.

…Petitioner(s)

Versus

Ghulam Nabi and another.

…Respondent(s)

For the Petitioner(s)

: Mr. Naeem Suleman, ASC

For Respondent No.1

: Mr. Aamir Asher Azeem, Advocate

High Court

Mr. K.A Wahab, AOR

Date of Hearing

: 12.06.2024.

JUDGMENT

Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, J.- Through this petition,

the petitioners have challenged the judgment dated 07.03.2022

(the impugned judgment), passed by the High Court of Sindh,

Karachi (the High Court), whereby constitutional petition filed by

the Respondent No. 1 (the respondent) was allowed.

Facts in brief are that the petitioners are the coowners/ landlords of Shop bearing No.4, located at ground floor of

Haji Naik Muhammad Building, constructed over Plot No. RC-

4/32, situated in Aja Maoji/ Al-Shifa Street, Ranchorline,

Gazdarabad, Karachi South (subject premises/shop).The subject

premises/shop was let out to the grandfather of the respondent,

namely, Allauddin as the tenant who carried on business over

Civil Petition No.917-K of 2022

there solely. However,

after death

of the original

tenant/grandfather, the respondent occupied the subject

premises/shop as tenant without informing the landlords about

the death of his grandfather. The respondent continued to pay the

monthly rent till June 2009, at the rate of Rs.600/-. Thereafter, in

June, 2019, the respondent sublet the subject premises/shop to

three doctors, namely, Dr. Fazal Ellahi, Dr. Jaipal and Dr. Chetan

Lal for running a clinic, namely Muhammadi Clinic vide

Partnership Deed Exh.O/21 without consent or knowledge of the

landlords.

Consequently,the petitioners filed a Rent Case No.656

of 2021 in the Court of Vth Rent Controller (South) at Karachi for

the eviction of tenant on the ground of default in payment of rent

as well as subletting the subject premises/shop. That ejectment

application was allowed in favour of the petitioners vide order

dated 05.04.2021. Being aggrieved, the respondent preferred an

appeal (First Rent Appeal No. 120/2021) in the Court of Additional

District & Session Judge-XII/Model Civil Appellate Court, District

South, Karachi (the Appellate Court), that was dismissed vide

judgment dated 20.11.2021. The respondent challenged the

judgment of the Appellate Court by filing a constitutional petition

in the High Court, which was decided in favour of the respondent

vide judgment dated 07.03.2022.

The learned counsel for the petitioners contends that

subject premises/shop was let out to the grandfather of the

respondent who was solely running a business in it; that the

respondent or legal heirs of the tenant has sublet the shop in

question to doctors and has malafidely shown himself as the

partner; He relied upon the cases of M.D Tahir Advocate vs.

Civil Petition No.917-K of 2022

Lahore High Court (1994 SCMR 1507), Muhammad Shafi vs.

State Life Insurance Corporation(2009 SCMR 893) and State

Life Insurance Corporation vs. Sami-Ur. Rehman (2018 SCMR

443).

On the contrary, the learned counsel for the

respondent contends that the respondent has not committed any

default in payment of rent; that he has not sublet the

premises/shop but has entered into a partnership with doctors,

which does not amount to subletting. He relied upon the cases

reported as State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan vs.

M/S Siddiqui Tailors (PLD 1993 Karachi 642), Syed Fakhar

Mahmood Gillani vs. Abdul Ghafoor (1995 SCMR 96),

KhudaBaksh vs. Muhammad Yaqoob (1981 SCMR 179), Habib

ur Rehman vs. Mehromal (1993 SCMR 1163), Habibullah vs.

Rent Controller Peshawar and 11 other (1998 SCMR

2656),Ahmed Khan vs. Rasul Shah (PLD 1975 SC 311) and

Barkhurdar vs. Muhammad Razaq (PLD 1989 SC 749).

Heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused

the material available on the record.

Perusal of the evidence of the parties reveals that the

respondent has admitted that he never informed the landlords

about the death of his grandfather who was the original tenant

inducted by the petitioners. Moreover,the respondent has himself

admitted in his cross-examination that doctors have been running

clinic in the subject premises/shop with the name of Muhammadi

Clinic. The respondent produced the Registration Certificate

Exh.0/21 of the said clinic. He has also admitted that he entered

into a partnership in respect of the subject premises/shop with

three doctors, namely, Dr. Fazal Ellahi, Dr. Jaipal, and Dr. Chetan

Civil Petition No.917-K of 2022

Lal.

The respondent has also admitted that

the

petitioners/landlords were not aware about the registration of said

clinic and he never informed them about it.

Section 15 of the Sindh Rented Premises Ordinance,

1979 (SRPO, 1979) envisages the various grounds on the basis of

which the landlord may seek eviction of the tenantincluding the

ground of default in payment of rent and subletting of any rented

premises without the written consent of the landlord. The case of

the petitioner is that the respondent without the consent and

knowledge of the petitioners/landlords started the business of

running of aclinic and entered into a partnership with the doctors

named above in respect of the subject premises/shop.

It appears from the record that the evidence of the

parties adduced before the learned Rent Controller has not been

properly appreciated and discussed in the impugned judgment.

10.

In view of the above, the impugned judgment is hereby

set aside and the case is remanded back to the High Court to

decide it afresh after providing an opportunity of hearing to both

the parties and after evaluating the evidence available on the

record within a period of 60 days excluding the period of summer

vacations.

Judge

Karachi,

12th June, 2024

APPROVED FOR REPORTING

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