Delhi High Court Flags Trend Of Rich Tenants Occupying Landlord's Property On 'Paltry' Rate In Dispute Over ₹40 Rent In Sadar Bazar Area

The Delhi High Court recently raised concerns over the trend of financially well-off tenants continuing to occupy the landlord's property for decades altogether, while parting with a very meagre rent.Irked by mere ₹40 rent paid by the Respondent-tenants in Delhi's Sadar Bazar area, Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani ordered their eviction.Allowing the Petitioner-landlord's plea, the Court observed,“Very well-off tenants enjoying financial prosperity persist in unjustly occupying premises for decades on-end, paying pittance for rent, while in the process their landlords are forced into impecunious and desperate circumstances, resulting from egregious misuse of an anachronistic piece of legislation, namely the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958.”Petitioners' premises had been in the occupation of the Respondents for more than 50 years and no rent agreement was stated to have been executed between the parties.The Respondents however refused to vacate the premises, when the landlord sought it for his personal use. It was also contended that the Petitioners were not owners of the subject premises, and that therefore they were not landlords.The High Court reiterated that it does not lie in the mouth of a tenant to dispute the title of his landlord.“It is long-settled that to seek eviction, all that a landlord needs to show is that he enjoys rights to the demised premises that are better than that of the tenant. The vesting of absolute title to a premises in a landlord is not a prerequisite for deciding an eviction petition,” the bench observed and ordered eviction.Appearance: Ms. Devna Soni, Mr. Jatin Sehgal, Mr. Ashish Garg, Ms. Simran Bajaj and Mr. Shubham Aggarwal, Advocates for Petitioners; Mr. S.C. Singhal, Mr. Saideep Kaushik and Mr. Parth Mahajan, Advocates for RespondentCase title: Mrs Madhurbhashani & Ors v. Ranjit Singh (and connected matter)Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 757Case no.: RC.REV. 95/2014Click here to read order

Delhi High Court Flags Trend Of Rich Tenants Occupying Landlord's Property On 'Paltry' Rate In Dispute Over ₹40 Rent In Sadar Bazar Area

Kapil Dhyani

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