High Court set to wrap up petition on Delhi rent law (T.O.I.) 27.10.2015

High Court set to wrap up petition on Delhi rent law

TNN | Oct 27, 2015, 06.52 AM IST

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court has begun hearing the final arguments on the validity of the archaic Delhi Rent Control Act (DRCA).

A bench of Justices B D Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva is proceeding towards a verdict on the constitutional soundness of the Act as it recently heard a group of women property owners on the issue.

The petitioners attacked the DRC Act pointing out that most of the provisions were redundant. The petitioners highlighted that two parts of the Act - relating to rates of hotelslodging houses, and for the lease of vacant premises to the government in certain areas - are dead laws as there are no reported cases under these provisions in the Act.

Moreover, the petitioners argued that Sections 4, 6 and 9 of the Act relating to the control of rent have already been de rent have already been de clared unconstitutional by the HC in 2002 and the only part of the DRC Act that survives is the control of eviction. The petitioners alleged that tenants protected under the Act are determined by historical accident and not by need due to the peculiar nature of the legislation. "In fact, the poor are not getting any benefit out of the Act."

Advocate Shobha Aggarwal, the lead petitioner in the case, drew HC's attention on various amendments to the Act.She pointed out that the 1976 Amendment to the Act provided for limited inheritance of tenancy rights by legal heirs of tenants but the implementation of the Act has ensured unlimited succession rights to the tenants of both residential and commercial premises including big companies such as Life Insurance Corporation in perpetuity.

The petitioners further argued that even after the 1988 Amendment, the object of expediting disputes between landlords and tenants was not achieved and cited a chart showing that as of December 2014, 10.15% of all civil cases pending before the district courts in Delhi were as a result of the DRCA.
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PRESS RELEASE

The final arguments on the petition challenging the constitutional validity of the entire Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958 in Writ Petition (Civil) no. 516 of 2010, titled Shobha Aggarwal & others v. Union of India & Anr continued on 06.10.2015 before a division bench comprising of Justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva of the Delhi High Court.

It was submitted before the Hon’ble Court:

That most of the Delhi Rent Control Act is now redundant. The Preamble of the Delhi Rent Control Act which has three parts to it reads as follows:

“An Act to provide for the control of rents and evictions and of the rates of hotels and lodging houses and for the lease of vacant premises to Government, in certain areas in the Union Territory of Delhi.”

Out of these three parts, two parts relating to rates of Hotels and Lodging Houses and for the Leases of vacant premises to the Government in certain areas is dead law as there are no reported cases under the provisions in the Act relating to these two parts of the Preamble. Sections 4, 6 and 9 of the Act relating to control of rent have already been declared unconstitutional by the High Court in 2002. Therefore, the only part of the Act that survives now is the control of eviction and the tenants who are protected under the Act today are determined by historical accident and not by need. In fact, the poor are not getting any benefit out of the Act and it is because of the Act that no one is investing in affordable housing for the poor.

The Petitioners brought to the notice of the Division Bench, the various amendments to the Act and pointed out that the 1976 Amendment to the Act provided for limited inheritance of tenancy rights by legal heirs of tenants but the implementation of the Act has ensured unlimited succession rights to the tenants of both residential and commercial premises including big companies like Life Insurance Corporation in perpetuity. 

That one of the objects of the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958 [DRCA] was to devise a suitable machinery for expeditious adjudication of proceedings between landlords and tenants. This was also part of the Statement of objects and reasons of the Delhi Rent Control (Amendment) Act, 1988 which shows that even after 30 years of being in-force, the DRCA had failed to achieve one of its primary objects. The Petitioners further argued that even after the 1988 Amendment, the object of expediting disputes between landlords and tenants was not achieved. In support of this argument, the Petitioners placed before the Division Bench a chart showing that as of December, 2014, 10.15% of all civil cases pending before the District Courts in Delhi were as a result of the DRCA.

The petition was filed in 2010 by a group of women property owners. The arguments were addressed by Shobha Aggarwal, petitioner no. 1 in person assisted by Pranav Jain, advocate for petitioner no. 2 and 3. The petitioners are members of a Delhi based, women centric, non- funded, non-party citizens’ group namely “Committee for the Repeal of Delhi Rent Control Act”; and have been campaigning and lobbying with the Government of India to undertake rental law reforms in Delhi for the last nine years but to no avail.

Further arguments by the petitioners would continue on the next date of hearing which is fixed for 17.11.2015.