SC: Married daughters cannot seek eviction of tenant of parents

The Supreme Court has held that married daughters, who are well-settled in their matrimonial homes, cannot seek eviction of a tenant on the grounds of bonafide requirement, since married daughter is not dependent on her parents.

A bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and Tirath Singh Thakur, while disposing of the petition filed by a landlord who died during the pendency of the appeal, also ruled that a married daughter, who is well-settled in her matrimonial home, cannot pursue the eviction petition filed by her parents.

Justice Thakur, writing 21-page judgement for the bench noted, ‘Even in the petition filed before this court, the requirement pleaded was that for the deceased widowed owner of the demised premises and not of any member of her family.’ ‘Super added to all this is the fact that the legal representatives, who now claim to be the family members of the deceased, are all married daughters of the deceased couple each one settled in their respective matrimonial homes in different cities and at different places. That none of them was dependent upon the deceased petitioner is also a fact undisputed before us,’ he noted.