Kerala High Court: ED Can Investigate Without FIR in Scheduled Offence Cases (CMRL Matter)  ||  Delhi High Court Upholds TRAI Rule Capping TV Advertisements at 12 Minutes Per Hour  ||  Supreme Court Directs High Courts to Deliver Judgments in 3 Months and Bail Orders in One Day  ||  Supreme Court: Successful Resolution Applicant Cannot Negotiate Further After CoC Approval  ||  Supreme Court: Succession Law Applies, Not Primogeniture, to Ex-Royal’s Private Estate Inheritance  ||  Supreme Court: Writ Jurisdiction Cannot Challenge Arbitrator’s Section 16 Decision  ||  Supreme Court: Sanyasi Status Cannot Be Ground to Reject Land Compensation Claim  ||  Supreme Court: Section 33(1)(a) of Arbitration Act Cannot Alter Nature of Interest in Award  ||  Supreme Court: Society Office Bearers Not Liable for Cheque Dishonour Without Active Business Role  ||  Supreme Court: Asking a Woman to Adjust in Marriage Does Not Amount to Cruelty By In-Laws    

Glowing Rooms (Pty) Ltd vs. Levin N O & Others - (28 Mar 2024)

A contracting party is entitled to specific performance of any contractual right

Civil

Present is an appeal against a judgment of the High Court, which granted an eviction order against the appellant from a commercial property, pursuant to a notice of termination in terms of a lease. The central issue in present appeal is whether the eviction order was properly granted or whether the respondents repudiated the lease agreement, and whether on proper interpretation of the agreement as a whole, the respondents had a right to ‘unilaterally’ cancel the agreement. In addition, whether the court should have developed the common law in accordance with constitutional norms and values, to refuse the eviction.

A contracting party is entitled to specific performance of any contractual right. Notions of good faith and fairness have not been elevated to substantive rules of contract. It is only where a term is so unfair, unreasonable or unjust that it is contrary to public policy that a court may refuse to enforce it. This Court has held that to coerce a lessor to conclude a lease agreement with a party it no longer wants as a tenant would be contrary to public policy.

In respect of the validity of the notice of termination, present Court found that the notice was valid as it was not contradictory or confusing. The notice clearly and unambiguously stated that the Trust was exercising a contractual right in terms of clause 2.1 to terminate the lease agreement on one month’s notice. Public policy demands that contracts freely and consciously entered into must be honoured and there was nothing in the implementation of clause 2.1 that was contrary to public policy.

Present matter was purely a commercial dispute about commercial premises. There were no fundamental rights implicated. Nothing on the facts of this matter indicated that there was a need to develop the common law. There was no contractual duty to negotiate and any reliance on a general duty to negotiate in good faith was misplaced. Appeal dismissed.

Tags : EVICTION   NOTICE   LEGALITY  

Share :        

Disclaimer | Copyright 2026 - All Rights Reserved