In Brief
The appellants, successors in interest of lessees who held land under a 20-year registered lease starting December 1973 and erected pucca structures (permanent buildings) on the property, claimed status as 'thika tenants' (temporary tenants entitled to statutory protection) to argue the landlord's interest had vested in the State. The Supreme Court held they did not qualify as thika tenants under any of the three applicable thika tenancy Acts (1949, 1981, or 2001). Two grounds disqualified them: the 20-year lease exceeded the 12-year threshold for thika tenancy under the 1949 Act, and the structures were permanent (pucca), not temporary (kutcha) as required until 2010's amendment. Additionally, after the lease expired in 1993, they ceased paying periodic rent and thus could not meet the statutory definition. The Court affirmed that the landlord's interest never vested in the State, upholding the High Court's judgment.
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