Disaster Management Authority Bound To Pay Rent For All Rooms In Building Taken Over By It, Irrespective Of Occupation: Kerala High Court

In a recent ruling, the Kerala High Court has clarified that the Disaster Management Authority is bound to pay rent for all rooms in the building that was taken over by it irrespective of whether or not all the rooms were in its occupation.Justice Viju Abraham was considering a plea challenging the award passed by the Arbitrator under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 being aggrieved by the quantum of compensation granted to the petitioner in respect of his building requisitioned for institutional quarantine/COVID containment.The Court remarked:“the taking over of the building from the petitioner is a case of compulsory acquisition, by the force of law and therefore when the building as a whole is in the possession of the Disaster Management Authority, they are bound to pay the rent for all the rooms in the building for the period it was in their possession irrespective of whether the rooms were occupied or not.”According to the petitioner, his building with 25 rooms was taken over by the Chairman of the District Disaster Management Authority invoking the powers under Section 65 of the Act. The keys to all rooms and the compound were taken over by the Village Officer for the purpose of institutional quarantine for a period of 155 days. Subsequently, pursuant to the High Court's direction in other pleas by the petitioner, the building was handed over to him and he was granted a compensation of around Rs. 4,32,000 deducting taxes. Aggrieved by the quantum of compensation, the petitioner approached the Arbitrator as per Section 66 of the Act. However, the rent for actual days of occupation was only granted. Thus, the petitioner approached the High Court.The petitioner contended that the compensation awarded to him was against the spirit of Section 66(1) of the Act. He argued that the government orders relied on while computing compensation was arbitrary and unjust.The State opposed the plea and submitted that rent for the rooms on actual days of occupation was the only amount legally due to the petitioner. It relied on a government order dated 26.06.2020, which provides that payment for individual cases shall be limited to 14 days or the actual number of days stayed in the facility, whichever is lesser.After hearing the parties, the Court felt that the question to be answered is whether the determination of compensation by the afore government order is in accordance with law. It also examined another government order dated 25.06.2020 that provided the guidelines for payment of expenditure to institutional quarantines. The Court then remarked that the government order dated 25.06.2020 mandates that compensation has to be fixed on the basis of Section 66. Looking at Section 66, it observed that the mandate under the provision is that the compensation has to be fixed based on the rent payable in respect of the premises.With respect to the 26.06.2020 government order, the Court was of the view that the same does not apply to the petitioner since it is only in relation to payment of compensation to the hotel/tourist homes owners, where an individual has stayed for a certain period because of the quarantine and restriction in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic.“this cannot be extended to the case of the petitioner, wherein the whole building was taken over by the authorities… When Section 66 of the Act, 2005 provides that compensation has to be calculated on the basis of the rent payable in respect of the premises, I am of the view that rent has to be paid for all rooms which was in their possession for 155 days and fixing a cut off by way of…Government Order, limiting payment for an individual case for a period of 14 days or the number of days that the individual stayed in the facility, whichever is lesser, is totally impermissible as the provisions of a Statute cannot be modified by way of an executive order,” the Court added.Thus, the Court allowed the plea and directed the Chairman of the District Authority to pay rent for all 25 rooms for 155 days along with interest within one month.Case No: WP(C) No. 31589 of 2022Case Title: N. Rajendran v. State of Kerala and Ors.Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 262Counsel for the petitioner: P.K. Vijayamohanan, Aiswarya V.S.Counsel for the respondents: Nima Jacob – Government PleaderClick to Read/Download Judgment

Disaster Management Authority Bound To Pay Rent For All Rooms In Building Taken Over By It, Irrespective Of Occupation: Kerala High Court

K. Salma Jennath

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Disaster Management Authority Bound To Pay Rent For All Rooms In Building Taken Over By It, Irrespective Of Occupation: Kerala High Court

K. Salma Jennath

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