The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a landlord is the best judge of his personal needs and that a tenant cannot dictate which property the owner should use to meet 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, Nafees Ahmed v. Mrs. Shaheen Begum, involved a building named Farooq Manzil in Karachi, where co-owner Nafees Ahmed sought eviction of a tenant from one of his flats.
The Rent Controller initially dismissed the eviction application, but the sessions judge later ordered the tenant’s removal.
The tenant challenged that decision before the Sindh High Court, which set aside the eviction order. The landlord then approached the Supreme Court.
In its eight-page judgment, authored by Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, the court said the landlord had stated his personal need on oath and the claim was found genuine during cross-examination.
The court held that the existence of other flats in the same building did not make the landlord’s need doubtful.
It observed that a landlord has the right to decide which of his properties he wants to use for personal need, and a tenant cannot force him to choose another property.
The Supreme Court further ruled that the Sindh High Court was not legally justified in reappraising the evidence and overturning the findings of the sessions court.
The court therefore set aside the High Court’s decision and restored the Rent Controller’s eviction order.
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