Narayan v. Chovatia CA1/4

Filed 8/11/23 Narayan v. Chovatia CA1/4 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FOUR

JAGDISH NARAYAN, Plaintiff and Respondent, A166381

v. (Alameda County RUPA R. CHOVATIA, Super. Ct. No. 22CV013851) Defendant and Appellant.

Rupa Chovatia appeals from the trial court’s issuance of a civil harassment restraining order under Code of Civil Procedure section 527.6 in favor of Jagdish Narayan and his wife and son. She argues substantial evidence does not support the trial court’s order. Chovatia fails to demonstrate any error, so we will affirm. Chovatia describes a great deal of factual background for the case, much of it involving ill-treatment she allegedly suffered at the hands of Narayan and his family. Chovatia provides no citations to the record for any of her factual assertions, which is improper. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.204(a)(1)(C) [briefs must “[s]upport any reference to a matter in the record by a citation to the volume and page number of the record where the matter

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appears”].) This rule exists in part because we may not consider any factual matters that are not in the record. (CIT Group/Equipment Financing, Inc. v. Super DVD, Inc. (2004) 115 Cal.App.4th 537, 539, fn. 1 [“it is well established that a reviewing court may not give any consideration to alleged facts that are outside of the record on appeal”].) As far as we can discern from our own review of the record, Narayan alleged in his request for a restraining order that Chovatia was a former tenant who trespassed by staying on illegally in a unit on Narayan’s property. He further alleged that Chovatia had been harassing his family, had verbally threatened them and said they would soon die, and burned the top part of her unit. The trial court issued a temporary restraining order requiring Chovatia to stay 100 yards away from Narayan’s family and their home, workplace, and vehicle, but the order also said that the order did not prevent Chovatia from going to or from her home. Chovatia’s written response, filed the same day as the hearing on the request for a permanent restraining order, alleged that Narayan and his family had been harassing, threatening, and assaulting her in retaliation for her complaints about illegal rent and unpermitted construction. Chovatia denied setting fire to the unit and alleged Narayan and his family members deliberately set the fire to harm Chovatia and her cats. She also alleged that she had moved out of the unit but had to return to care for her cats.