Tenant cannot challenge landlord's title: SC

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court has ruled that a tenant cannot challenge the ownership rights of a landlord while continuing to remain in possession of the property as a tenant.

The top court made it clear that a tenant must first relinquish possession of the property before approaching a court of law to assert any claim of ownership.

The judgment was authored by Chief Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan. The bench observed that under Article 115, a tenant is stopped from denying the landlord's title so long as he continues to occupy the premises in the capacity of a tenant.

The SC said if a tenant subsequently purchases a share in the property or claims to be a co-owner, the proper legal remedy would be to file a partition suit before a competent civil court.