Civil Court Has Jurisdiction To Entertain Plea For Perpetual Injunction By Tenant In Cases Of Eviction: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has held that Civil Courts have the jurisdiction to hear suits for perpetual injunction filed by a tenant against their landlord when it comes to matters of eviction. The Court held that the same would not be barred by the U.P. Regulation of Urban Premises Tenancy Act, 2021.

By an order passed on 15.11.2022, the Civil Judge, Rae Bareli dismissed the suit filed by the petitioner for grant of perpetual injunction, attempting to restrain the landlord from evicting him. The said suit was not admitted on the ground that as per Section 38(1) of the Act, no civil court could entertain any proceedings if they were related to the provisions of the Act of 2021. The petitioner challenged the validity of the above order and the subsequent order dated 07.08.2023, whereby the First Additional District Judge, Raebareli, dismissed the revision filed by the petitioner.

Counsel for the petitioner submitted that the Act of 2021 did not contain a provision that covered the matter at hand.

Counsel for the respondent contended that the landlord had not been trying to dispossess the petitioner in the first place. It was argued that no cause arose with him to file a suit against the landlord.

The Court observed that the respondent did not dispute the submissions of the petitioner as far as it concerned the applicability of the Act of 2021 to the case.

Examining the Act of 2021, the Court held that the Act empowered a rent authority/tribunal to entertain a petition filed by the landlord or even a suit for eviction/ejectment of the tenant for recovery of arrears of rent and damages. However, it was observed that there was no provision in the Act which conferred jurisdiction on the rent authority/tribunal to entertain a suit for perpetual injunction filed by a tenant against dispossession, other than in accordance with the law.

“Therefore, the jurisdiction of Civil Courts to entertain suits for injunction filed by tenants against their landlords, is not barred by the provisions of the Act of 2021 and the Civil Court continues to have jurisdiction to entertain the suit for injunction even after enactment of the Act of 2021,” held Justice Subhash Vidhyarthi.

By refusing to admit the suit filed by the petitioner, the Court held that the order passed by the Civil Judge and the subsequent order reaffirming the aforesaid were both unsustainable in law.

Accordingly, the petition was allowed.

Case Title: Harmeet Singh v. Desh Deepak Gupta [MATTERS UNDER ARTICLE 227 No. - 5133 of 2023]

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