Muhammad Imran V. Muhammad Afzal and 2 others,
CLC 2022 1354 · Balochistan High Court
This case involves a landlord-tenant dispute in Quetta under the Balochistan Urban Rent Restriction Ordinance, 1959. Muhammad Imran, who owned two commercial shops (gifted to him by his brothers), sought to evict his tenants—one running a barber shop and two others selling vegetables—claiming he needed the shops for his own business since he was unemployed. He also alleged the tenants had illegally sublet the front platform of the shops and stopped paying rent to him after he became the owner.
The Rent Controller initially dismissed his eviction application. Imran then appealed to the Balochistan High Court.
The High Court noted this was actually the third round of litigation over these shops—an earlier application had been settled by compromise, and a second one was dismissed and later withdrawn on technical grounds, meaning the principle of res judicata (which normally bars repeated litigation on the same issue) did not apply here.
The High Court found that Imran had proven through his testimony and documents that he genuinely owned the shops and needed them for his own use, and that this evidence was never disproven or shaken during cross-examination. It held that a landlord's own sworn statement, if consistent and unchallenged, is strong proof of genuine personal need, and that landlords cannot be permanently denied the right to use their own property just because it was once rented out. The court also found the tenants guilty of willfully not paying rent. The appeal was allowed, and the tenants were ordered to vacate the shops.
یہ مقدمہ کوئٹہ میں بلوچستان اربن رینٹ ریسٹرکشن آرڈیننس 1959 کے تحت ایک مالک مکان اور کرایہ داروں کے درمیان تنازعے سے متعلق ہے۔ محمد عمران، جو دو تجارتی دکانوں کے مالک تھے (جو انہیں ان کے بھائیوں نے ہبہ کی تھیں)، نے اپنے کرایہ داروں کو بے دخل کرنے کی درخواست دی۔ ان کرایہ داروں میں سے ایک حجام کی دکان چلاتا تھا جبکہ باقی دو سبزی فروخت کرتے تھے۔ عمران کا موقف تھا کہ چونکہ وہ بے روزگار ہیں اس لیے انہیں اپنا کاروبار شروع کرنے کے لیے یہ دکانیں درکار ہیں۔ انہوں نے یہ الزام بھی لگایا کہ کرایہ داروں نے دکانوں کے سامنے موجود چبوترے کو غیر قانونی طور پر آگے کرایہ پر دے رکھا ہے اور جب سے وہ مالک بنے ہیں، کرایہ داروں نے انہیں کرایہ دینا بھی بند کر دیا ہے۔
رینٹ کنٹرولر نے ابتدائی طور پر ان کی بے دخلی کی درخواست خارج کر دی۔ جس پر عمران نے بلوچستان ہائی کورٹ میں اپیل دائر کی۔
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