Tenant Defence Cannot Be Struck Off Before Determining ‘First Date of Hearing’: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of India has delivered an important judgment in a landlord-tenant dispute from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, while interpreting Order XV Rule 5 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC). The Court held that striking off a tenant’s defence is a serious and penal step which cannot be done mechanically without carefully examining whether the tenant intentionally defaulted in payment of rent. A Bench of Justice S.V.N. Bhatti…