1996 MLD 1131 LAHORE-HIGH-COURT-LAHORE

Full text

ASHIQ ALI VS NAEEM-UR-REHMAN TAHIR West Pakistan Urban Rent Restriction Ordinance 1959--2 , West Pakistan Urban Rent Restriction Ordinance 1959 ----Ss. 2 & 13---Constitution of Pakistan (1973), Art.199---Constitutional petition---Expression "landlord" and "owners of land"---Connotation---Bona fide personal requirement by landlord---For determination of personal requirement of landlord, Rent Controller must construe provisions of the Ordinance by following principles of harmonious and objective construction---Expression "landlord" embodied in S.2 of the Ordinance was of wide amplitude, having larger connotation than the word "owners of land" ---Landlord might be one person or more than one persons and so personal requirement of rented premises might be of one landlord or more than one landlords---Provision of S.13 of the Ordinance would not prohibit filing of eviction application by one of the coowners/co-landlords---One of co-owners can, thus, file an application for eviction of rented premises---Personal requirement of application has to be adjudicated upon with reference to S. 13(3)(i) of the Ordinance, proviso whereof enacts that if premises was got vacated under the order of Rent Controller and the same was not occupied by landlord, tenant so evicted would be entitled to move application for restoration of possession of rented premises---Proviso to S.13(3)(i) of the Ordinance is thus, an effective check against false pleas of personal requirements and adequately safeguards right of a landlord as also of tenant---Statement of landlord should be evaluated with reference to such circumstances---All the landlords being co-owners, one of them categorically stated in witness-box that premises in question were needed by him and other co-owners for personal use and for setting up religious school---Such statement was confidence inspiring and congruent with averments embodied in eviction application---Orders of Rent Controller and Appellate Authority whereby eiectment of tenants on ground of personal requirement of landlords was ordered being unexceptionable could not be interfered with in Constitutional jurisdiction of High Court.