Judicial Officer With 10 Yrs Standing Competent To Hear Appeals Under Public Premises Unauthorised Occupants Act: Delhi High Court

The Act provides for eviction of unauthorised occupants from public premises and empowers an Estate Officer to hold inquiries. Section 9 of the Act provides that an appeal shall lie from specified orders of the estate officer to an Appellate Officer.

The question before the High Court was regarding which authority can be an Appellate Officer.

The Petitioners herein had raised an objection that in view of Section 9 of the Act, the appeal can be heard either by the District Judge or by a judicial officer in that district having not less than 10 years service as Additional District Judge.

However, the High Court noted that a bare perusal of Section 9 of the Act provides that the Appellate Officer shall be the District Judge of the district in which the public premises is situated or such other judicial officer in that district of not less than 10 years standing.

"Reading of this provision nowhere provides that a judicial officer to be competent to hear the appeal must have a standing of 10 years or more than 10 years in service as an Additional District Judge," Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma held.

The Court held that if the legislature intended so, it could have mentioned it in the provision itself.

Similarly, there is nothing as such in the provision that states that the judicial officer should have a service of 10 years or more than 10 years in the Higher Judicial Service, it added.

Thus, the appeals were relegated back to the concerned Court.

Case Title: M/S Young Men S Tennis Club v. NDMC

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Del) 954

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