MUMBAI, Feb. 4 -- Bringing to a close a landlord-tenant dispute that has spanned more than three decades, the Bombay High Court has upheld an eviction decree passed in 1996 and directed the occupants of a Walkeshwar flat to vacate the premises within eight weeks. The long-running litigation involved singer Preeti Sagar, also known as Preeti Somy Saran, and her sisters, Niti Chandra and Namita Motisagar, daughters of the deceased original tenants Sarla Mehta and Motisagar Tawakley. They were pitted against the trustees of the Sheth Amichand Pannalal Adishwar Jain Temple Charitable Trust, which owns the second-floor flat in Anil Niwas building at Walkeshwar. The Jain temple trust had offered to provide alternative accommodation to the tenants but the tenants had turned it down since it was smaller than the premises they were occupying. In his order of January 29, Justice M M Sathaye said, "In a case like this, where alternate accommodation is offered to the tenant from (the stage of) the trial court and the offer remains alive even today, the decree of eviction cannot be resisted on the self-serving ground that the alternate accommodation is not suitable or convenient (sic)." The flat in question was on the second floor of the building and, as recorded by the court, the tenants paid a monthly rent of Rs.173.79. The court noted that the area of the flat was disputed by the litigating parties. "According to the amended written statement of the Petitioners (Saran), it is 3,400 sq ft. According to the Respondents' (Trust) witness, it is about 1500 to 1600 sq ft," Justice Sathaye's judgement said. Saran and her two sisters Niti Chandra and Namita Motisagar, had challenged the order of an appellate bench of the Small Causes Court that had, in 1996, granted a decree of eviction against the tenants in the case. They had moved the Bombay High Court challenging the appellate bench's order in 1997. The Jain temple trust told the court that the trust ran a temple that had up to 5,000 visitors daily including foreign tourists. The trust required the premises occupied by the tenants for a bhojan shala or a kitchen for the Jain devotees. The lawyers for Saran and her sisters submitted that the conversion of residential premises into non-residential is prohibited under the Bombay Rent Act and therefore, the Trust cannot say that they want the residential premises for the construction of a kitchen, hall or a library. The Trust's lawyer Prakash Karande, however, said that Trust is the best judge of its requirement and the tenant cannot dictate what it does with its premises. Karande said that the Trust had even offered to provide a flat to the tenants in a new building which would be about 750 to 800 sq ft, for mitigation of hardship. However, he said, the tenants turned the offer down. The court said that the balance tilted in favour of the Trust when comparative hardship was considered. The Trust had first offered a 500 sq ft alternative accommodation and later, a 750-800 sq m flat in a new building that was to be constructed. However, the tenant rejected the offer saying the flat was smaller than expected. "The argument that other accommodation is not available to the tenant, would be no ground for depriving the landlord of its rights," Justice Sathaye observed. Saran's lawyers had sought a stay on the eviction order that was in place since 1996, however, the court granted them eight weeks to vacate the premises. The court asked Saran to file an affidavit in two weeks stating that no third party rights would be created in the premises. When contacted on Tuesday, Saran's lawyer Ativ Patel said they had no comment to make. He said that Saran's family was yet to take a decision on their further legal recourse....