QUESTION OF TENANCY.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 303, 21 December 1921, Page 7

QUESTION OF TENANCY.

A NEW I'OTNT RAISED. (By Te'csraph.— Own Correspondent.) HAMILTON, this day. An action was ibrouzht by William Smith, of MorrinsviUo, to-day against, •T. H. Salmon, K.M., and Parlour and Clifford, before Mr. Justice Stringer, at Hamilton, to prohibit the issue of a warrant of ejectment. In September last.a magistrate in a tenement case between Parlour and Clifford as landlords, and McAl'plne as defendant, ordered possession to be. given. .Smith was a sub-tenant of McAlpine. and was not a party to those proceedings. McAlpine had rented the premises as offices, and had sub-let the back portion to Smith as a dwelling. In the proceedings before Mr. Justice Stringer it was contended for Smith that possession could not be ordered which would evict the sub-tenant. Under these circumstances hie Honor held that, as the Magistrate's Court Act did not require the subtenant to be brought into original proceedings, and that, as the. magistrate had decided the original tenancy had terminated, this automatically terminated the sub-tenancy. Also, he declined to interfere with the decision of the magistrate. He pointed out that this decision did not prevent the subtenant either suing Parlour and Clifford or McAlpine for damages if he could show that his sub-tenancy had not in fact terminated. This is flhe first time thi9 point has been tested in the Supreme Court.