A leased out a house to B at the Rs. 2,000/- per month. B put his friend in occupation of the house for more than one Year. B was paying the rent regularly to A.B was collecting Rs. 3,000/- from his friend. A wants to evict B. Can he succeed?

Issue :

1. Whether the lease between A and B is valid? YES

2. Whether the subletting by B is valid? NO

3. Can A succeed in evicting B? YES

Rule:

Section 10(ii) Andhra Pradesh Rent Control Act, 1960: The land lord has a right to evict the tenant in case of sublease.

Application:

This problem is related to the Eviction of tenants. The tenants shall not sublet the premises to any other third party during lease period and shall handover peaceful possession to the landlord. The landlord has a right to object the tenant from subletting. Thus the whole idea of a rent control act is to control and regulate eviction of tenants and not to stop it altogether. B was paying the rent regularly to A is not a valid defense to make the sublease valid. There are various grounds under which a landlord can evict a tenant.

The most common of these are listed below.

a. Breach of condition of tenancy.

b. Subletting.

c. Default in payment of rent for specified period.

d. Requirement of building for own occupation.

e. Material deterioration in the condition of the building.

R. Nagarathinam Ammal Vs. M. Raja @ Govindharaj and Another, 2006 (2) CTC 785, eviction was sought for on the ground of subletting. Plea of subletting has never been raised initially. It has been held that the tenant is guilty of subletting.

Gappulal V. Shriji Dwarkadheeshji, AIR 1969 SC 1291, it has been held that in the event of subletting without permission of landlord, eviction is the only proper remedy and that the subletting of the premises whether before or after the commencement of the Act, is immaterial.

Conclusion:

In the instant problem, the lease between A and B is valid. The subletting by B is not valid, because subletting cannot be made without the prior permission of the landlord. Hence A succeeds in evicting B.