GANTUSA H. BADDI (DEAD) BY LRS. vs MEERABAI G. PAI — C.A. No. 1510/1999

Case Summary: GANTUSA H. BADDI v. MEERABAI G. PAI Decision: The Supreme Court allowed the tenant's appeal and quashed the eviction order, holding that non-residential tenancies under the Karnataka Rent Control Act are heritable and that a tenant cannot be evicted under Section 21(1)(p) merely because a partnership firm (in which the tenant is a partner) acquired alternative premises—the statute requires the tenant individually to have acquired such premises. Key Reasoning: The Court rejected the High Court's reliance on *Venkatesh Thimmaiah*, instead following the Constitution Bench's *Gian Devi Anand* decision, which protects commercial tenants' heritability rights to preserve family livelihoods. Section 21(1)(p)'s language unambiguously requires the tenant personally to acquire alternative accommodation; acquiring through a partnership firm does not satisfy this condition. This case analysis is maintained by casestatus.in based on publicly available court records.