18/02/2026
A tenant who disputes the landlord’s title or claims ownership is obliged to first surrender possession, as the law does not permit a tenant to retain possession under tenancy while simultaneously setting up hostile title against the landlord.
It is by now a settled proposition of law that where a person enters into possession as a tenant, he is estopped from disputing the title of the landlord so long as he continues to retain possession under the tenancy. The principle of estoppel is embodied in Article 1151 of the Qanun-eShahadat Order, 1984, which debars a tenant from denying the title of the landlord during the continuance of tenancy. The doctrine is founded upon public policy and is intended to preserve sanctity of contractual relationships and to prevent a tenant from approbating and reprobating simultaneously.
Even where a tenant claims to have acquired a share in ownership, the tenancy does not automatically dissolve so as to defeat ejectment proceedings, rather, the proper course available to such tenant is to seek his proprietary remedy through a civil suit for partition, and not to resist ejectment proceedings by raising disputed questions of title within the limited jurisdiction of the Rent Controller.
i. A tenant who subsequently asserts acquisition of ownership rights is bound by estoppel under Article 115 of the Qanun-e-Shahadat Order, 1984, and cannot deny the landlord’s title while continuing in possession as tenant. If he intends to contest proprietary title, he must first surrender possession and thereafter seek adjudication of his claim.
ii. An ejectment petition against such tenant remains maintainable, since the mere assertion or alleged acquisition of ownership rights does not terminate the tenancy nor does it oust the jurisdiction of the Rent Controller.
iii. Where the tenant claims to have purchased a share or acquired co-ownership, the proper remedy is not to resist ejectment proceedings but to seek recourse through a civil suit for partition.
Pursuant to the above, we hold that a tenant, notwithstanding any subsequent claim of ownership, cannot retain possession as tenant and simultaneously deny the landlord’s title, as such conduct is barred by Article 115 of the Qanun-e-Shahadat Order, 1984, referred to above. The tenant must first surrender possession before contesting title. Consequently, ejectment proceedings against such tenant remain maintainable. In case the tenant claims co-ownership by purchase of a share, his proper recourse lies in seeking partition through a competent civil forum and not in resisting ejectment proceedings within the limited jurisdiction of the Rent Controller.
C.P.L.A.806-P/2018
Nawab Khan & another v. Muhammad Yousaf & others
Mr. Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan
29-01-2026
