K Rustom ice-cream parlour gets eviction stay
In a relief for K Rustom, the iconic ice-cream parlour at Churchgate, the small causes appellate court has stayed an order that directed it to vacate and surrender its premises to Cricket Club of India (CCI).
However the stay is subject to the condition that K Rustom will deposit in court an interim monthly compensation of Rs 2.5 lakh till final disposal of its appeal. It will also similarly deposit the rent of Rs 527 per month.
Judges M S Pathan and J S Jagdale on June 30 passed the order on an application by K Rustom & Company to stay the execution of the April 30 judgment and order of the small causes court (SCC). On April 30, the SCC directed it to hand over shop number 6-measuring approximately 3,070 square feet with a 950-sq-ft mezzanine floor on the ground floor of North Stand Building at Brabourne Stadium – to CCI within two months
The judgment was passed in an eviction suit filed in April 1996 by CCI.
K Rustom’s application said it has strong hope of success in its appeal
CCI opposed the grant of stay, saying a valid decree has been passed in its favour. It said the property is situated in the Churchgate area where the rents are on the higher side. If the court is going to stay the order an appropriate compensation must be granted. It also submitted leave-and-licence agreements of two stores within 100 metres of K Rustom. The Omega store occupying 750 soft pays a monthly rent of Rs 57 lakh and Nykaa Luxe which occupies 1.250 sq ft pays Rs 64 lakh
Advocate Vivek Kantawala for CCI argued that as K Rustom occupies 4,000 sq ft, it must pay Rs 26 lakh per monthAdvocate Divyakant Mehta for K Rustom countered that the premises would fetch no more Rs 1 lakh rent. “The law says market rate has to be paid,” said Kantawala. Mehta sought 4 weeks time to accumulate evidence of leave-and-licence instances of the area and also a valuer report
The judges suggested that until K Rustom places the valuer report on record, on the basis of evidence before them, they would draw a ‘golden mean figure of compensation. Both sides agreed to it. “In view of this, we find that as a stop-gap arrangement, if the compensation of Rs 250,000 per month is fixed on an ad interim basis, it would take care of justice,” they noted. Granting a conditional stay on the April 30 order, the judges also directed Rustom not to create third-party interest in the premises
Rustom’s appeal, filed by senior partner Rodabe Irani, said the trial judge erred in recording that it had not filed documents to prove the premises were used for other businesses. He also failed to note from photographs that the open portion was only the sale counter and manufacturing of ice-cream was carried out in the balance portion of the suit premises and it was not necessary to keep it open for the public to see
She said the judgment resulted in CCI getting away with a blatantly false case” which tantamounts to misusing the legal machinery to throw out a “genuine tenant” for the past 84 years.
CCI’s reply said it waited for a “1/4th of a century for seeing the fruits of the decree and would probably be more few years till the disposal of the appeal” It said Rustom is “cash rich”, its gross turnover in 1993-94 was nearly Rs 40 lakh and it still continues to carry on the “lucrative” ice-cream business.
Source: Click Here
