Chetna Mercantile Private Limited and Anr. v. Punjab National Bank and Ors.
Maintainability of writ petition – Landlord–tenant dispute
Case brief
What is this about?
WPO No.433 of 2025, High Court at Calcutta (Constitutional Writ Jurisdiction, Original Side), Justice Amrita Sinha, 20th June 2025: writ petition by Chetna Mercantile Private Limited (landlord/lessor) against Punjab National Bank (lessee, a ‘State’ under Article 12) over non-renewal of lease and alleged forcible holding over dismissed as unmaintainable; private contractual lease dispute without public element held outside writ jurisdiction; lessor directed to competent forum. Keywords: writ petition maintainability, lessor and lessee, holding over, lease renewal, Article 12, private law dispute, competent forum.
What did the court decide?
The status of the bank in the writ petition is that of a lessee; the terms and conditions of the lease are an absolutely private affair between the parties with no public element involved, and an aggrieved lessor ought to approach the competent forum for relief.