High Courts can't interfere in property/rent rows: SC

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court had held that High Court cannot interfere in civil disputes like eviction of tenants or property rows as such issues are to be dealt by civil courts.

Citing its earlier rulings, the apex court said the writ jurisdiction enjoyed by the High Courts under Article 226 to pass any directive to the authorities for enforcing the fundamental right of a citizen cannot be used in private disputes unless there is an statutory connotation to it.

"In some cases, High Courts, in a routine manner, entertain petition under Article 227 over such disputes and such petitions are treated as writ petitions.

"We would like to make it clear that in view of the law referred to above in cases of property rights and in disputes between private individuals, writ court should not interfere unless there is any infraction of statute or it can be shown, that a private individual is acting in collusion with a statutory authority," a Bench of Justices G S Singhiv and A K Ganguly said in a judgement.

The apex court passed the judgement while dismissing the appeal filed by Shalini Shyam Shetty, a tenant challenging the eviction direction passed by the lower court and upheld by the Bombay High Court.