In Brief
The appellants were tenants of a ground-floor shop originally let for a bookshop business. The landlord sued for eviction on three grounds: nuisance from food preparation activities, illegal subletting, and non-use for six months prior to suit. The Supreme Court found that the nuisance ground failed due to insufficient evidence—the original plaintiff did not testify, no neighbouring shopkeepers gave evidence, and only the occasional visits of the plaintiff's son were relied upon. The illegal subletting claim was rejected as poorly pleaded and unproven. However, the Court upheld the non-user ground, finding that no valid registration certificate existed for the business during 2006 (the year immediately preceding suit), and registration by itself does not prove actual business use. The appeal was dismissed.
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