LAW FOR ALL

RENT EVICTION SUIT WITH OUT SURRENDERING THE POSSESSION, A TENANT CAN NOT CHALLENGE THE TITLE OF OWNER = Rent Control and Eviction - Suit for ejectment and resumption of possession of land filed by respondents on the ground that appellant-tenant failed to pay rent from 1986 - Plea of appellant in written statement that suit land actually belonged to him and the lease deed was executed and rent was paid to respondents by mistake of fact - Trial court decreed suit for eviction after recording finding that the appellants had failed to prove the title to the land - First appellate court and High Court upheld the decision of trial court. =It is well settled that the tenant who has been let into possession by the landlord cannot deny the landlord's title however defective it may be, so long as he has not openly surrendered possession by surrender to his landlord - Although, there are some exceptions to this general rule, none of the exceptions were established by the appellants in this case - Therefore, appellants who were the tenants of the respondents would have to surrender possession to the respondents before they can challenge the title of the respondents - Although an averment was made in the plaint that respondents were owners of the suit land, no relief for declaration of title as such was claimed by the respondents - Only the relief of eviction was sought in the plaint on the ground that the lease had not been renewed after 1986 and the rent had not been paid since 1986- Therefore, this being not a suit of declaration of title and recovery of possession but only a suit for eviction, trial Court, first appellate court and High Court were not called upon to decide the question of title - The findings of courts below on title is, therefore, set aside, but the decree for eviction is maintained - The appellants are directed to vacate the suit land within six months - Suit, if any, filed by the appellants for declaration of title and consequential relief cannot be entertained by the court unless the appellants first vacate and handover possession to the respondents. = STATE OF A.P. & ORS. Appellant(s) VERSUS D. RAGHUKUL PERSHAD (D) BY LRS & ORS. Respondent(s) = published in http://judis.nic.in/supremecourt/helddis.aspx