Only Surviving Spouse Inherits Tenancy; Other Legal Heirs Have No Right: Himachal Pradesh High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has held that under the Himachal Pradesh Urban Rent Control Act, 1987, governing tenancy succession, the right to inherit a deceased tenant's tenancy vests exclusively in the surviving spouse.Justice Vivek Singh Thakur remarked that: “As per Explanation-II, right of every successor referred to in Explanation-I, shall be personal to him and on the death of said successor tenancy will not devolve upon his any legal heirs. Therefore, objection of defendant disputing the locus of plaintiff to file the suit is not sustainable.”The Court remarked that in this case, since the appellant was living with her husband until his death, she alone succeeded to the tenancy. The Court further clarified that no other legal heirs, including children, parents, or daughters-in-law, are entitled to inherit the tenancy.Background:The dispute is related to premises which were originally a single-storey garage in Shimla. The tenant ran an atta chakki in a part of the garage, and after his death, his wife Jawala Devi inherited the tenancy. Even the other members continued to stay there, but they had no legal right to the tenancy.The owners alleged that the family of the tenant illegally constructed two storeys above the old single-storey structure without permission from the landlord or the Municipal Corporation. The suit was dismissed by the trial court, however, the appellate court ordered for demolition of the two storeys. Aggrieved, the tenants filed a regular second appeal before the high court. The Court observed that according to the technical report, the sale deed entries and the demolition order that originally the structure only had a single-storey garage and the other two floors were constructed later without any approval. Case Name: Smt. Jawala Devi & others v/s Smt. Prabha Bhagra & othersCase No.: RSA No.89 of 2006Date of Decision: 11.11.2025For the appellants: Mr. Bhupinder Gupta, Senior Advocate, with Ms Rinki Kashmiri and Mr. Harshit Sharma, Advocates.For the Respondents: Mr. Sumit Sood, Advocate, for respondents No.1 to 3.Ms Meera Devi and Mr. Rahul Sharma, Advocates, vice Mr. Deepak Gupta, Advocate, for respondents No.4 to 8.Click Here To Read/Download Order

Only Surviving Spouse Inherits Tenancy; Other Legal Heirs Have No Right: Himachal Pradesh High Court

Mehak Aggarwal

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