With the increasing demand for rented property, disputes between Landlords and Tenants are also increasing day by day. Are you a Landlord and facing problems with your tenant regarding default rent payments? Does your Landlord lodge an FIR regarding default in rent payment against you, looking for a solution? All your quarries will be satisfied in the article. Today, here we will get to know about some of the remedies available for Landlords. We will also discuss some ways to save tenants from the criminal suit filed against them. Also in this article, we will discuss the Landmark Judgement of the Supreme Court regarding the same.
Judgment of Supreme Court:
Neetu Singh Vs State of Uttar Pradesh
Let us first discuss the facts of the case:-
Here in this case the tenant defaults in paying rent to the landlord for the past few months. The landlord, as a result, lodges a report against the tenant under Section 406( breach of trust) and 420(cheating) in the nearby Police Station. The tenant went to Allahabad High Court against the FIR and filed an application under Section 482 for quashing the FIR. The Hon’ble High court rejected the said application and said that they will not interfere.
After which the tenant approached the Supreme Court for the same
The Apex court here discussed the major question of that can an FIR be lodged in the case of default rent. The Supreme Court firstly discussed all the legal provisions which are there whether they are applicable or not.
- Section 406 IPC i.e. Breach of Trust:
The definition of the Criminal Breach of Trust is discussed under section 403 of IPC, which says:
Dishonest misappropriation of property:
Whoever dishonestly misappropriates or converts to his own use any movable property, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with a fine, or with both.
Here in this definition, it is mentioned that the property needs to be movable, not static. So the Supreme Court said that it cannot be made out in the case of rent default by tenants.
- Section 420 IPC i.e. Cheating:
The term Cheating is defined under Section 415 of IPC, which says:
Whoever, by deceiving any person, fraudulently or dishonestly induces the person so deceived to deliver any property to any person or to consent that any person shall retain any property, or intentionally induces the person so deceived to do or omit to do anything which he would not do or omit if he were not so deceived and which act or omission causes or is likely to cause damage or harm to that person in body, mind, reputation or property, is said to cheat.
In this, the Supreme Court mentioned that here we cannot say that the tenant induced the Landlord to rent his property to him. The tenant also did not have the intention to cheat the landlord, as he paid the rent in the beginning.
- After discussing all the aspects, the Supreme Court of India passed the Judgement that no criminal offense can be made out here. Failure to pay rent may have civil consequences but is not a criminal offense under IPC.
Still, if a similar FIR is lodged against you then what is the remedy to this:
- File an application under section 482 IPC for quashing the FIR in your States High court.
- Use the above-mentioned Judgement passed by the Apex Court in your application
- Mention that the Supreme Court has said that only civil suits can be filed in the rent default cases.
Remedy for a Landlord
- The landlord should file a tenant eviction suit
- The tenant eviction suit can be filed under Rent Control Act in your State’s rest control division.
- This will help you in removing these tenants from your property
- With that, you can also receive the default rent amount.
I hope that this article was useful to you in both the case whether you are a tenant or a landlord who is facing the problem of default in rent payments.
Still, have any legal doubt, contact the Legal Experts of AapkaConsultant.com
(अपनी क़ानूनी समस्या को 1 कॉल पर अभी सॉल्व करे )
