A public housing estate tenant, who was said to have allowed the premises to be used for gambling, won back his residency right yesterday after a judge quashed his eviction order.
Mr Justice Wally Yeung Chun-kuen ruled that tailor Kwan Shung-king had not breached the tenancy agreement he entered into with the Hong Kong Housing Authority in August 1969. The judge said the decision upheld by the Housing Appeal Tribunal was wrong and he quashed the order.
In a written judgment, Mr Justice Yeung said Mr Kwan had no knowledge that a friend of his son, Fan Koon-shing, made use of the flat to allow four neighbours to play mahjong. Mr Kwan, he said, should not be held responsible for the act, neglect or default of Fan.
'There is no suggestion that the applicant had used or caused the flat to be used for illegal purposes,' the judge said. He added Mr Kwan and his family of six could not have taken any reasonable steps to prevent the flat from being used for illegal purposes.
'But what reasonable steps is the applicant supposed to take in light of the background of the case?' the judge said. 'Was he to inform every friend, every visitor or every relative to his flat of the terms of the tenancy agreement and that they must not commit any breach of the terms when there was no reason whatsoever to foresee or suspect that such breach would occur? I think the answer is obvious.' The Court of First Instance had heard that on December 2, 1998, five people, including Fan, were arrested inside the flat, in Wong Chuk Hang Estate, Wong Chuk Hang, for illegal gambling. Fan had admitted that he received $10 from each of the four people in return for allowing them to play mahjong in the flat. He was convicted of permitting a place to be used as a gambling establishment and received a suspended sentence. The other four were fined for gambling.
In March last year, the Housing Authority issued a notice to evict Mr Kwan and the decision was upheld by its tribunal. Mr Kwan moved out of the flat with his wife and youngest son in October 1997 to live at his workshop in Mongkok. He returned to the flat at weekends. Mr Kwan entrusted the flat to his second son, Kwan Fan-shing, who then allowed Fan to clean it periodically.