Mumbai court orders Rustom Ice Cream to hand over shop premises to Cricket Club of India

A small causes court in Mumbai has directed K Rustom & Co, owner of the iconic Rustom’s Ice Cream parlour at Churchgate, to hand over possession of its shop premises at the Brabourne Stadium to the Cricket Club of India (CCI) within two months..The judgment by judge SB Todkar was passed in a suit filed by the CCI under the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, seeking Rustom’s eviction on the ground that CCI is in need of property for its club activities, and Rustom is not conducting any business on said property..The CCI claimed that Rustom had been paying a monthly rent at the rate of ₹527 which is far below the standard rent.They claimed that Rustom was not using a substantial portion of the suit premises for the purposes for which the same was let out to them for the last 3-4 years.It was also submitted by CCI that it was in reasonable and bonafide requirement of the property, for club activities.The CCI argued that it will suffer grave and unmitigated hardship if a decree in eviction is refused.“Rustom is simply hanging on to the suit premises despite having kept the same closed and unused solely with the view to pressurize the plaintiffs to pay them to meet their unreasonable demands which is just not possible for the plaintiffs (CCI),” the CCI argued..Rustom opposed the suit, pointing out that it had been a tenant on the suit premises much before the Second World War, when premises were freely available in Mumbai.It said that it has no other premises to do business and will be out on the streets if asked to evict..After a trial that lasted for 16 years, the court held that greater hardship would be caused to CCI if the decree is not passed in their favour.“It is already held that the plaintiffs have proved that, the suit premises are reasonably and bonafide required by the plaintiffs for their personal use for club activities and no hardship will be caused to the defendants if the decree of ejectment is passed in favour of the plaintiffs therefore, they are entitled to recover quit, vacant and peaceful possession of the suit premises,” Judge Todkar held..Accordingly, the judge directed Rustom to handover the quiet, vacant and peaceful possession of property in dispute to the CCI within two months from the date of the order..[Read Judgment]