Rent Premises Act.Lanord &Tenant Relationship.How Prove Landowner.Case Study With Latest Judgement.

#RentPrmisesAct2009 #Landlord #Tenant #eviction 2022LHC4601.pd Lahore High Court Mian Baber Rasheed v. Learned Addl. District Judge, Lahore, etc. W.P.No.30990 of 2022 Mr. Justice Mirza Viqas Rauf https://sys.lhc.gov.pk/appjudgments/2... Facts: The petitioner claiming himself the landlord of the residential quarter filed ejectment petition which was dismissed. He preferred an appeal but the same was also dismissed. Feeling aggrieved, he filed this writ petition. Issues: i) How “landlord” can prove that the person occupant of his property is his “tenant”. ii) Whether one can invoke the provisions of the “Act, 2009” while bypassing the other available remedies for seeking eviction? iii) What are powers of High Court under the jurisdiction of writ of certiorari? iv) What is character and scope of writ of certiorari? v) Whether writ of certiorari can be used as a substitute of appeal or revision? Analysis: i) After having an overview of the preamble of the “Act, 2009” and the definitions of the “landlord” and “tenant”, it becomes crystal clear that for invoking the provisions of the “Act, 2009”, the landlord has to establish that the person whose eviction is sought from the premises is occupying the same as tenant. Both these terms are interlinked and interconnected with each other. Mere fact that a person is a landlord is not sufficient to give a premium to him to get the eviction of the occupant of the premises while invoking the provisions of the “Act, 2009”. The landlord has to establish that the person whose eviction is sought is occupying the rented premises as tenant. For the said purpose, the landlord has also to prove that the occupant is a person, who undertook or is bound to pay rent as consideration for the occupation of the premises by him/her or by any other person on his/her behalf. ii) One cannot be allowed to invoke the provisions of the “Act, 2009” while bypassing the other available remedies for seeking eviction of a person even if such person is an illegal occupant, trespasser or encroacher, without establishing that he is occupying the premises as tenant. The provisions of the “Act, 2009” are not meant to short-circuit the process of relevant law allowing an owner to invoke the provisions of the Act ibid without demonstrating that status of the “respondent” is of tenant. iii) Through a writ of certiorari, a High Court on the one hand is vested with the powers to correct the errors committed by the inferior Courts or Tribunals and on the other hand to annul the acts or proceedings taken by the inferior bodies without any lawful authority. iv) As regards the character and scope, certiorari will be issued for correcting error of jurisdiction. In order to explain it more precisely, it can be said that writ of certiorari can be issued in the following circumstances:- (i) When an inferior Court or tribunal acts without jurisdiction or in excess of FORTNIGHTLY CASE LAW BULLETIN 26 it or fails to exercise it. (ii) When the Court or tribunal acts illegally in the exercise of its undoubted jurisdiction, as when it decides without giving an opportunity to the parties to be heard, or violates the principles of natural justice. (iii) If there is an error apparent on the face of the record. v) It is trite law that a writ of certiorari cannot be used as a substitute of appeal or revision as its scope is limited. Conclusion: i) The landlord has to prove that the occupant is a person, who undertook or is bound to pay rent as consideration for the occupation of the premises by him/her or by any other person on his/her behalf. ii) One cannot invoke the provisions of the “Act, 2009” while bypassing the other available remedies for seeking eviction. iii) High Court has powers to correct the errors committed by the inferior Courts or Tribunals and annul the acts or proceedings taken by the inferior bodies without any lawful authority. iv) As regards the character and scope, certiorari will be issued for correcting error of jurisdiction. v) Writ of certiorari cannot be used as a substitute of appeal or revision