Rajasthan High Court Flags Pending Appeals Before Rent Tribunals Affecting Decree Holders, Directs Priority Disposal Of Eviction Matters

The Rajasthan High Court has expressed pain over several appeals being pending before various Appellate Rent Tribunals for the last several years, opining that great hardship was being caused to the decree holders who failed to enjoy the fruits of the decrees, as well as the judgment debtors who suffered due to the long pendency of the appeal.The bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand held that eviction matters should be given priority in disposal at all stages of litigation, and expressed its hope that due attention shall be paid by all tribunals to ensure speedy disposal of eviction cases. The order's copy was directed to be circulated to all judicial officers in Rent Tribunals and Appellate Rent Tribunals in the state.“This Court is conscious by the fact that several eviction applications are pending before the Rent Tribunals and several appeals are lying pending before the Appellate Rent Tribunals and it is not possible for the Appellate Tribunals to decide the appeals within the time line…But at the same time this fact cannot be lost sight that unnecessary and unwarranted requests seeking adjournment of the cases should not be allowed to be entertained by these Tribunals.”The Court was hearing a petition by a landlord who had secured a favourable order in an eviction application filed by him. However, the appeal filed against the order by the tenant has been pending before the tribunal since 2023, for almost two years now. Hence, the petition was filed seeking expeditious disposal of the appeal. After hearing the contentions, the Court highlighted that as per Section 19(8) of the Rent Control Act, 2001 (“the Act”), the Appellate tribunal was supposed to dispose of the appeal within 180 days from the date of service of notice upon the other side. However, in the present case, more than 188 days had passed, and still the adjudication was pending. The Court opined that despite the stipulated timelines, the appeals were not decided expeditiously and were deferred from one date to another for an indefinite time. “The need for prompt decision in rent control appeals stems from the nature of the cases, which often involve issues like eviction and rent disputes. Prolonged delays can cause significant hardship to both the land lords and tenants…Hence, it is in the interest of both the sides that these matters should be decided expeditiously and all possible endeavours should be made by the Appellate Rent Tribunals to decide the pending appeals expeditiously within a time frame without entertaining unnecessary and unwarranted requests of adjournment of the cases from one date to another”While expressing pain over the situation, the Court held that the tribunals must consider that neither party to the litigation should be allowed to prolong the decision of the matter at their whims and desire by seeking unjustified adjournments. Opining that eviction matters should be given priority in disposal, the Court directed the circulation of the order to all the judicial officers in Rent Tribunals and Appellant Rent Tribunals. Accordingly, the petition was disposed of by directing the appellant tribunal to decide the appeal, preferably, within 3 months. Title: Dharmendra Kumar Bhardwaj v Ramesh Jain & Ors. Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Raj) 233Click Here To Read/Download Order

Rajasthan High Court Flags Pending Appeals Before Rent Tribunals Affecting Decree Holders, Directs Priority Disposal Of Eviction Matters

Nupur Agrawal

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