Composite Eviction Order Without Allowing 10-Day Review Period Invalid: Punjab & Haryana High Court Settles Conflict Under Punjab Rent Act

Case Name: Manohar Lal and Another v. Amrinder Singh Poonia and Another

Date of Judgment: 26 February 2026

Citation: CR-219-2025

Bench: Hon’ble Justice Gurvinder Singh Gill and Hon’ble Justice Ramesh Kumari

Held: The Punjab & Haryana High Court held that where the Rent Controller dismisses a tenant’s application seeking leave to contest an eviction petition under the Punjab Rent Act, 1995, the tenant must be afforded the statutory 10-day period to seek review under Section 38(7)(e). A composite order simultaneously declining leave to contest and directing eviction deprives the tenant of this statutory right and is invalid to the extent it directs eviction.

Summary: The revision petition arose from a reference made to resolve conflicting views of different Single Benches of the High Court regarding the validity of composite eviction orders passed by Rent Controllers under the Punjab Rent Act, 1995.

The landlord, an NRI, had filed an eviction petition under Section 24(3) of the Punjab Rent Act, 1995 seeking eviction of the tenants. In response, the tenants filed an application under Section 38(7)(b) seeking leave to contest the eviction petition.

The Rent Controller, SAS Nagar (Mohali), passed a composite order dated 16.10.2023 declining the tenants’ application for leave to contest and simultaneously directing their eviction. The tenants challenged the order before the Appellate Authority, which dismissed their appeal, leading to the filing of the present revision petition.

Before the Single Bench hearing the revision, the tenants argued that the composite order deprived them of the statutory right to seek review against the denial of leave to contest. Since Section 38(7)(e) of the Punjab Rent Act provides a tenant with ten days to file a review application against such an order, passing an eviction order on the same day effectively extinguished that right.

The Single Bench noted that conflicting judgments existed on the issue and referred the matter to a Division Bench. The principal questions referred were whether failure to grant the ten-day period to file a review rendered the eviction order a nullity and whether a composite order could still be sustained as substantial compliance with the Act.

The Court examined the statutory scheme of the Punjab Rent Act, 1995 and contrasted it with the earlier East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949. Under the 1949 Act, no specific provision existed for review of orders declining leave to contest. However, the 1995 Act introduced Section 38(7)(e), which expressly grants tenants the right to file a review application within ten days of denial of leave to contest.

The Court held that once the legislature had expressly incorporated a right of review in the statute, the provision must be given full effect. If the Rent Controller passes an eviction order simultaneously with denial of leave to contest, the statutory review remedy becomes illusory and the legislative intent behind Section 38(7)(e) is defeated.

Although the Act does not explicitly require the Rent Controller to adjourn the matter for ten days after rejecting the leave application, the Court held that such an obligation must be read into the provision to preserve the tenant’s statutory right to review.

The Court declined to follow the contrary view expressed in certain earlier decisions that treated the review opportunity as a mere formality. Instead, it endorsed earlier judgments which held that passing a composite order effectively deprives tenants of their statutory remedy and therefore cannot be sustained.

Accordingly, the Court answered the reference by holding that a composite order declining leave to contest and directing eviction in the same proceeding violates Section 38(7)(e) of the Punjab Rent Act, 1995 and is invalid to the extent it orders eviction.

Decision: The High Court partly set aside the impugned order dated 16.10.2023 to the extent it directed eviction of the tenants. The matter was remanded to the Rent Controller, SAS Nagar (Mohali), to enable the tenants to exercise their statutory right to seek review of the order declining leave to contest. The Rent Controller was directed to grant at least ten days for filing the review application and thereafter proceed in accordance with law.