The Himachal Pradesh High Court has clarified that tenancy rights after a tenant’s death devolve first upon the surviving spouse, not the children. The ruling reinforces succession hierarchy and strengthens protections for landlords in eviction disputes.
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SHIMLA: In a ruling clarifying the succession of tenancy rights, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has held that upon the death of a tenant who was in continuous possession of the premises, the tenancy shall first devolve exclusively upon the surviving spouse. Only if the spouse is not alive or was not living with the deceased tenant at the time of death, the tenancy passes to the children, and thereafter to parents and other legal heirs in a hierarchical order.
A Single Bench of Justice Vivek Singh Thakur delivered this decision while hearing a Regular Second Appeal challenging the judgment of the Additional District Judge (ADJ), who had reversed the decree of the Sub-Judge First Class (II).
Background of the Dispute
The dispute began when Dalip Chand, the original tenant of a vacant portion of land jointly owned by Kulbhushan Bhagra and Rajesh Kumar Bhagra, passed away. After his death, his widow, Jwala Devi, continued in possession of the premises.
In 1989, the State acquired the property for road widening, but only part of it was put to use and the remaining land was later de-notified in 1991. During this period, it was alleged that Jwala Devi, in collaboration with other defendants, unlawfully constructed two additional storeys on the tenanted property without obtaining permission from the landlords or the Municipal Corporation.
After the Municipal Corporation took action against the unauthorized construction and subsequent legal objections were unsuccessful, the plaintiffs filed a suit for mandatory injunction, which was initially dismissed. On appeal, the Additional District Judge reversed the trial court’s judgment and directed demolition of the unauthorized construction.
This order ultimately became the subject of challenge before the Himachal Pradesh High Court.
Observations of the Court
Justice Thakur specified a clear structure for tenancy succession in the state:
- Surviving spouse
- Son and/or daughter (only if no surviving spouse, or spouse did not ordinarily reside with the deceased tenant)
- Parents
- Daughter-in-law, and so on
The Court emphasized that:
“The right of the successor is personal and non-transferable. Upon the death of such successor, the tenancy shall not devolve upon his or her legal heirs.”
Thus, because Jwala Devi, widow of the deceased tenant Dalip Chand, was alive and resided with him until his death, she alone inherited the tenancy. Other heirs, therefore, had no independent tenancy rights.
The Bench reiterated a principle of property law: Any co-owner or co-landlord can independently file a suit for eviction, and all co-owners don’t need to participate in the litigation.
This settled the defendants’ objection challenging the locus of the plaintiffs.
The Court rejected the defendants’ attempts to justify illegal construction because the title was temporarily lost during government acquisition proceedings. It held that:
- Loss of title during the acquisition process does not legalize unauthorized construction.
- Plaintiffs or subsequent owners maintain their rights to continue legal actions.
Additionally, the Court confirmed that pursuing remedies under the Himachal Pradesh Urban Rent Control Act does not prevent a landlord from filing an independent suit for the removal of unauthorized construction.
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The High Court found no illegality, irregularity, or perversity in the first Appellate Court’s reasoning and upheld the direction to demolish the two unauthorized storeys.
Accordingly, the Regular Second Appeal was dismissed.
Appearance:
Appellants: Senior Advocate Bhupinder Gupta, Advocates Rinki Kashmiri, and Harshit Sharma
Respondents: Advocates Sumit Sood, Meera Devi, Rahul Sharma, and Deepak Gupta
Case Title:
Smt. Jwala Devi & others Versus Smt. Prabha Bhagra & others
RSA No.89 of 2006
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