Application For Compensation To Landlord During Stay On Eviction Decree Can't Be Entertained When Appeal Is Ready For Final Hearing: Bombay HC

The Bombay High Court recently held that an application for compensation to a landlord in case of interim stay on eviction decree during appeal cannot be entertained after the appeal is ready for final hearing when both parties were heard at the time of admission of the case.

Justice Rajesh S Patil, while dealing with a tenant's revision application against an eviction decree, dismissed the landlord's interim application seeking monthly compensation of Rs. 70,000 from the tenant.

“Such an application preferred much later for fixing market rent/compensation, after the Appeal is ready for final hearing, would not be entertainable when both the parties were heard at the time of Admission of Appeal and the execution of judgment and decree of eviction was stayed”, the court held.

The landlord relied on the Supreme Court judgment in Atma Ram Properties v. Federal Motors and sought compensation from the date of the eviction decree in 2009. The apex court in Atma Ram Properties allowed appellate courts to impose reasonable conditions on tenants when granting a stay on an eviction decree to compensate landlords for losses due to delayed execution of the decree.

However, in the present case, the landlord applied for compensation in 2023, 11 years after the admission of the tenant's revision application against the eviction. The court noted that as per records, the landlord was heard at the time of admission.

The court said such applications should be made shortly after the appeal is admitted and the stay is granted. In the case of Atma Ram Properties, the condition to deposit market rent was imposed within a month of the eviction decree.

The court concluded that the interim application in the present case filed 11 years after the admission of the tenant's revision application, lacks merit. It stated that granting interim relief now would effectively modify the order passed at the time of admission, which is not justifiable given no change in circumstances has been recorded.

The court held that applications filed when the appeal is ready for final hearing, are not entertainable, especially when both parties were heard at the time of the appeal's admission.

The court posted the revision application for the final hearing and directed the parties to file compilations of documents, short synopses, propositions of law, and authorities relied upon within one week from the date of the judgment.

Case no. – Civil Revision Application 646 of 2012

Case Title – Brijbhushan Chandrabali Shukla v. Mahendra Yadav S/o Lavjari S. Yadav

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