Chapter V REPOSSESSION OF THE PREMISES BY THE LANDLORD

18.

1. (1) A tenant shall not be evicted except in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (2).
2. (2) The Rent Tribunal may on an application made to it in the prescribed manner, make an order for the recovery of possession of the premises on one or more of the following grounds, namely :,
   • (a) That the tenant has not paid the arrears in full of rent payable and other charges payable, including interest for delayed payment as specified in sub-section
3. (1) of Section 14 for three or more consecutive months, within one month of notice of demand for the arrears of such rent and all charges payable being served on him by the landlord in the manner provided in sub-section
4. (4) of Section 106 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 (No.4 of 1882) : Provided that no order for eviction of the tenant on account of default of payment of rent can be passed if the tenant makes payment to the landlord or deposits with the Rent Tribunal all arrears of rent including interest within one month of notice being served on him: Provided further that this relief shall not be available again if the tenant defaults in payments of rent consecutively for two months in any one year subsequent to getting relief once;
   • (b) That the tenant has after the commencement of this Act parted with the possession of whole or any part of the premises without obtaining the written consent of the landlord as provided in Section 6;
   • (c) That the tenant has continued misuse of the premises for two or more months after receipt of notice from the landlord to stop such misuse. Explanation., For the purpose of this clause, misuse of premises means encroachment of additional space by the tenant or use of premises which causes public nuisance or causes damage to the property or is detrimental to the interest of the landlord or for an immoral or illegal purposes;
   • (d) That the premises were let for residential use and neither the tenant nor any member of his family ordinarily living with him has been residing therein for a period of six or more months. Explanation., For the purpose of this clause, "family" means spouse, sons, unmarried daughters, parents and daughter-in-law of the pre-deceased son;
   • (e) That the premises or any part thereof are required by the landlord for carrying out any repairs or building or rebuilding or additions or alteration or demolition, which can not be carried out without the premises being vacated: Provided that the re-entry of the tenant after such repairs, rebuilding, alteration etc. will be allowed only when it has been mutually agreed to between landlord and tenant and the same mutual agreement has been submitted before the rent Tribunal: Provided further that re-entry of the tenant shall not be allowed in the absence of such mutual agreement before the Rent Tribunal and also in cases where the tenant has been evicted under the orders of the Rent Tribunal.
   • (f) That the premises or any part thereof are required by the landlord for carrying out any repairs, building, rebuilding, additions, alterations or demolition, for change of its use as a consequence of change of land use approved by the competent authority;
   • (g) That the tenant, his spouse or dependent son or dependent unmarried daughter ordinarily living with him, has, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, built or acquired vacant possession of a residence within 10 kilometres of the urban area in which the premises are located;
   • (h) That the premises let for residential or non-residential are required by the landlord for occupation for residential or non-residential purposes for himself or for any member of his family or for any person for whose benefit the premises were held and the landlord or such person is not in possession of any suitable accommodation within the same urban area;
     • (i) That the tenant has given written notice to quit and in consequence of that notice the landlord has contracted to sell the accommodation or has taken any other step as a result of which his interests would seriously suffer if he is not put in possession of that accommodation;
   • (j) That the landlord desires to sell the premises : Provided that the Rent Tribunal may enquire into the bonafide intention of the landlord to sell the premises and on being satisfied pass appropriate eviction order.
5. (3) In any proceedings for eviction under clause
   • (e) or
   • (g) of sub-section (2), the Rent Tribunal may allow eviction from only a part of the premises, if the landlord is agreeable to the same.
6. (4) No order for recovery of possession in any proceeding under sub-section
7. (2) shall be binding on any lawful subtenant, who or the tenant has given notice of his sub-tenancy to the landlord as specified in Section 6, unless the subtenant is made a party to the proceeding,
8. (5) Where a landlord or any member of his family ordinarily living with him,

19.

1. (1) Where a landlord recovers possession of his premises under clause
   • (e) of sub-section
2. (2) of Section 18, the Rent Tribunal may, on application from the tenant, fix the date by which the landlord is to put the tenant in repossession of the premises and may fix the new terms and conditions at which the tenant is to occupy the premises.
3. (2) If a tenant fails to re-enter the premises within one month of being intimated by the landlord about completion of repairs, the tenant shall forfeit his right of re-entry and be liable to pay two months rent as penalty.

20.

1. (1) Where an order for recovery of possession of any premises is made on the ground specified in clause
   • (h) of sub-section
2. (2) of Section 18, the landlord shall be entitled to obtain possession thereof within a period of one month in the case of residential premises and two months in the case of non-residential premises from the date of passing of eviction order : Provided that in case of premises let by category of landlords specified in Schedule III or by their spouse or dependent children (including dependents of pre-deceased personnel in armed forces), the landlord shall be entitled to obtain possession immediately after passing of the eviction order.
3. (2) Where a landlord recovers possession of any premises from the tenant under clause
   • (h) of sub-section
4. (2) of Section 18, the landlord shall not, except with the permission of the Rent Tribunal obtained in the prescribed manner, re-let whole or part of the premises within three years from the date of obtaining such possession, and if the landlord re-let his premises without permission of the Rent Tribunal, the Rent Tribunal may levy a penalty equivalent to one year rent on the landlord.

21.

1. (1) Where a landlord exercises the right of recovery of possession under clause
   • (g) of sub-section
2. (2) of Section 18, and he had received any rent or any other payment in advance from the tenant, he shall before recovery of possession, refund to the tenant such an amount after deducting the rent and other charges due to him.
3. (2) If any default is made in making any refund, the landlord shall be liable to pay simple interest at such rate as may be specified from time to time on the amount which he has omitted or failed to refund.

22. In any proceedings for recovery of possession on any ground other than that referred to in clause

1. (a) of sub-section

1. (2) of Section 18, the tenant contests the claim for eviction, the landlord may at any stage of proceedings, apply to the Rent Tribunal to direct the tenant to pay to the landlord rent payable as under Section 9 and the Rent Tribunal may order the tenant to make such payment regularly to the landlord by 10th of the month and all other charges due from the tenant along with penal charges, if any, due to delay in payment of the same as per sub-section
2. (1) of Section 14.

23. Where the landlord proposes to make any improvement in or construct any additional structure on any building which has been let to a tenant and the tenant refuses to allow the landlord to make such improvement or construct such additional structure and the Rent Tribunal on an application made to him in this behalf by the landlord is satisfied that the landlord is ready and willing to commence the work, the Rent Tribunal may permit the landlord to do such work and may make such other order as he thinks fit.

24. Notwithstanding anything contained in Section 18, where any premises which have been let comprising of vacant land, upon which it is permissible under the municipal byelaws, for the time being in force to erect any building, whether for residence or for any other purpose, and the landlord proposing to erect such building is unable to obtain possession of the same from the tenant by agreement with him and the Rent Tribunal, on an application made to it in this behalf by the landlord, is satisfied that the landlord is ready and willing to commence the work and that the severance of the vacant land from the rest of the premises shall not cause undue hardship to the tenant, the Rent Tribunal may,

1. (a) direct such severance;
2. (b) place the landlord in possession of the vacant land;
3. (c) determine the rent payable by the tenant in respect of the rest of the premises; and
4. (d) make such other orders as he thinks fit in the circumstances of the case.

25. Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, where the interest of a landlord in any premises is determined for any reason whatsoever and any order is made by the Rent Tribunal under this Act for the recovery of possession of such premises, the order shall, subject to the provision of sub-section

1. (4) of section 18, be binding on all occupants who may be in occupation of the premises and vacant possession thereof shall be given to the landlord by evicting all such occupants therefrom.

26.

1. (1) Every tenant who is in possession of any premises to which this Act applies shall observe all the terms and conditions of the contract creating the tenancy and shall be entitled to the benefits thereof.
2. (2) Notwithstanding anything in this Act or any other law for the time being in force, the tenant may give up possession of the premises on giving such notice as is required under the contract creating the tenancy and in the absence of any provision in the contract relating to notice or where there is no contract, the tenant shall give notice to the landlord of at least one month expiring with a month of the tenancy before giving up possession of the premises.
3. (3) Where a landlord has let the premises for