The Full Bench judgment of the Kerala High Court in Parthakumar v Ajith Viswanathan [2006 (2) KLT 250, held that existence of landlord-tenant relationship is inevitable for the special tribunal (Rent Control Court) to exercise its jurisdiction.
Once the Rent Control Court is satisfied that the contention regarding denial of title or claim for permanent tenancy is bona fide, the claims regarding title has to be decided finally by the civil Court. That is a zone or area where civil Court must entertain jurisdiction.
The Full Bench also held that proprietary title of the person claiming eviction is irrelevant to decide the jurisdiction.
The Full Bench in paragraph 16 of the judgment held as follows:
The Special Tribunals are constituted only to resolve the limited disputes relating to eviction falling under Section 11 of the Act. Existence of landlord-tenant relationship between the contestants is sine qua non for Sections 11(2) to 11(8) to operate and for the Special Tribunals to have jurisdiction. Only when the landlord–tenant relationship in respect of the building exists, does and can the Special Tribunal have jurisdiction to consider a claim for eviction. Summary and expeditious procedure is prescribed for eviction only in cases where the landlord-tenant relationship exists and the dispute regarding eviction is between the landlord and the tenant. Existence of landlord-tenant relationship between the claimant/landlord and respondent/tenant is thus essential, to confer jurisdiction on the Rent Control Authorities.
The above position has again been reiterated in the judgement in Bharathi & Others v Vinod S Sivasudha [(2008) 1 KLT 93].
References
- Parthakumar v Ajith Viswanathan [2006 (2) KLT 250
- Bharathi & Others v Vinod S Sivasudha [(2008) 1 KLT 93]
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