2008 SCMR 1457 SUPREME-COURT

Full text

ARSHAD ALI VS Mst. ZUBAIDAH BIBI Constitution of Pakistan 1973--185 , Ejectment of Tenant--TERM , West Pakistan Urban Rent Restriction Ordinance 1959--13 , S. 13---Constitution of Pakistan (1973), Art.185(3)---Ejectment of tenant---Fixed period of tenancy---Bona fide personal need of landlord--Concurrent findings of facts by the Courts below---Landlord after expiry of period of tenancy, filed ejectment petition on the ground of bona fide personal need---Petition was allowed by Rent Controller and eviction order was passed---Appeal against eviction order was maintained by Appellate Court as well as by High Court---Contention of tenant was that landlord had not raised any plea of bona fide personal need during the period of six years, therefore, the ground of personal need lacked bona fides---Validity---Even in presence of dire personal need of landlord, he was debarred from filing ejectment petition before expiry of the period of lease fixed in the agreement---After expiry of lease period, if petition was filed on personal need, the same could not be alleged to be mala fide merely because landlord did not file ejectment petition earlier which was not of his fault---Concurrent findings of facts by the Courts below on the question of personal need did not suffer from any illegality such as misreading or non-reading of any material piece of evidence---Leave to appeal was refused.