Srinagar, Nov 1: When Qazi Abdul Rashid rented his two tin roofed shops situated at Jawahar Nagar here in 1982, little did he know that he was going to be involved in a legal battle that would continue for over 40 years.
“The respondent (landlord) who had come to the court almost four decades before is exactly where he was at that point of time. His need to use and occupy his personal property is still being debated because of the lengthy litigation,” said a bench of Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey, adding, “His need must have dusted during the long interregnum. However, the dust needs to be removed to save it from getting completely buried underneath such dust.”
The court made the observations while dismissing a civil second appeal filed by the tenants (shopkeepers) against the trial court as also the appellate court which had ordered eviction.
The parties are in litigation over the suit property since 1983 when the landlord filed a suit for ejectment before the trial court which ultimately was allowed on 28 July 2014.
Subsequently, the shopkeepers went in appeal before the Appellate Court by filing a Civil First Appeal on 27 October 2014 which came to be decided on 8th June, 2019.
“The instant appeal is filed by the appellants on 31st July, 2019, and this Court (High Court) in terms of order dated 24th December, 2019, stayed the operation of the judgment and decree dated 28th July, 2014 which is continuing as on date,” the court said, adding, “Therefore, for the last almost four decades, the litigation has not yielded any fruitful results for the party who first approached the court with a suit for ejectment and succeeded also.” The High Court said that the Trial as also the Appellate Court while passing judgment and decree have not granted any time to the tenants to vacate the shops.
“However, since the appellants (tenets) are in use and occupation of the suit property for almost half a century, therefore, they do not deserve any further premium in vacating the suit property,” the court said, adding, “The appellants (tenets), therefore, shall vacate and handover the possession of the suit property (shops) to the respondent (landlord) within a period of two weeks.”
The landlord, the court said, shall be free to take recourse of execution proceedings if the shopkeepers fail to vacate and handover the possession of the shops within the time allotted.
