A tenant cannot be evicted if the original owners, for whose bonafide personal needs the rented premises is sought, subsequently die during pendency of the dispute, the Supreme Court has held.

"While it is true that the right to relief must be judged by reference to the date, suit or the legal proceedings were instituted, it is equally true that if subsequent to the filing of the suit, certain developments take place that have a bearing on the right to relief claimed by a party, such subsequent events cannot be shut out from consideration.

"What the court in such a situation is expected to do is to examine the impact of the said subsequent development on the right to relief claimed by a party and, if necessary, mould the relief suitably so that the same is tailored to the situation that obtains on the date the relief is actually granted," a bench of Justices Markandeya Katju and T S Thakur said.

The apex court passed the judgement while dismissing the appeal filed by three married daughters of a deceased couple who sought eviction of the tenant M/s Chelur Corporation from a rented premises of 5,000 sq yds in Kerala's Cochin district.

Original owners K Sachindanda Iyer and his wife A Sheshambal Sachindanda Iyer had in 1986 sought eviction of the tenant pleading they required the premises for bonafide personal use. The tenant opposed the plea saying it would put them to financial loss and their business would be affected.

The Rent Control Court, Ernakulum, had dismissed the owners' plea after holding the couple had alternative houses at Ernakulam and other places.

The case meandered through the appellate court and the Kerala High Court for over two decades during which both the courts ruled against the original owners. K Sachindanda Iyer died on April 24, 1996, during pendency of the suit in the high court and Sheshambal died during the appeal pending in the apex court.

After the death of the couple, their three married daughters continued the case as legal heirs for eviction of the tenant.