New Delhi: A tenant can be evicted if the landlord wants to start his own business even in a field in which he or she has no prior experience, the Supreme Court has ruled.
A bench of Justices Markandeya Katju and Asok Kumar Ganguly has held that if a landlord has a bonafide need of his rented premises for starting a new business and is able to prove his claim convincingly, he cannot be denied the privilege.
It is not necessary that a person to succeed in business must have prior experience in the particular field as even a rookie can succeed, the apex court said.
“We are of the opinion that a person can start a new business even if he has no experience in the new business. That does not mean that his claim for starting the new business must be rejected on the ground that it is a false claim.
“Many people start new businesses even if they do not have experience in the new business, and sometimes they are successful in the new business also. Hence, we are of the opinion that the High Court should have gone deeper into the question of bonafide need and not rejected it only on the ground that Giriraj (the petitioner’s son) has no experience in footwear business,” the court said.
The bench made the observation while allowing the appeal of landlord and petitioner Ram Babu Agarwal challenging the rulings of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
–Agencies