The Supreme Court has held that a tenant who came into possession of rented premises through a rent deed executed by a landlord cannot subsequently challenge the landlord's ownership, especially after having paid rent for decades.

Deciding a seven-decade-old landlord-tenant dispute that began in 1953, the Court observed that the defendants'(tenants) predecessors had taken the shop on rent from one Ramji Das, and continued to pay rent to him and his son even after his death. Hence, the Court ruled, the tenants were estopped from questioning the title of the landlord or his legal successor.

“The tenant having come into possession of the tenanted premises by a rent deed executed by the earlier landlord cannot turn around and challenge his ownership,” the bench comprising Justice JK Mahesh

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