2. Rent control Act 1968
Objective:
• control of rent
• protect tenants from evictions
• control rates of hotels & lodging houses.
• Till 22/05/2013, the Act was read as union
territory of Goa daman & diu---these words
now stand deleted.
3. Scope of Act
• Act has nine chapters incorporated with 59
sections.
• It has also been appended with Rules (which
were framed in 1969)
4. These 9 chapters are
1. Preliminary Sec 1 – 3
2. Control of letting Sec 4 - 11
3. Determination of fair rent Sec 12-16
4. Payment &deposit of Rent Sec
17-20
5. Control on Eviction of tenants Sec 21-32
6. Obligation of Landlord & tenants Sec 33-35
7. Hotels & lodging Houses Sec 36-40
8. Authorities- Procedure & Appeal Sec 41-50
9. Miscellaneous Sec 51-59
6. Sec 2 (c)- Buildings
• Means
Any building or part of the building- which is
intended to be let separately for use as residence
or for commercial use or for any other purpose.
• Includes
a) Garden, ground & outhouse- if any
appertaining to such building or part of the
building
b) Any furniture supplied by the landlord for use
in such building or part of the building
• Does not include: Room in a hotel or lodging
house.
7. Case: Joao Antonio Fernandes
v/s Fabrica of the church of Raia
• Held: Open Plot of land is not a building
• Qtn: Whether Rent Controller has jurisdiction to
pass an order against eviction??
• Issue: Open piece of land leased– followed
construction of structure by tenant
• Held: Sec 2 (c) definition of building applies to
built up premises & not to open pieces of land
therefore Rent controller has no jurisdiction.
8. Sec 2( i) Landlord
• A person who is receiving or is entitled to
receive the rent of any building.
• He may receive such rent either on his own,
on account of or for the benefit of any other
person
• Includes a person receiving rent as a trustee,
guardian or receiver for any other person, if
premises are let out to the tenant.
9. Sec 2(k) Member of the family
Landlord(Individual)-
a) Spouse, Son, daughter
b) Includes Father , mother , grandson( solely dependant)
c) Married daughter – husband shall not be entitled if wife has received said
benefit or vice versa
Landlord (Joint Hindu family)
Members of such a family
Landlord are Joint Owners(other then Joint Hindu Family)
Members of the family (same as landlord) to each of such joint owners
10. Case : Vasant Pratap Pandit
v/s Dr. Anant Trimbak Sabnis
• SC held that when a tenant dies , the protection
under the Act could be extended to the
members of the family who/ whose:
a) were participants in the benefit of tenancy &
b) Needs the tenancy was initially taken by the
tenant .
* If Such members of the family are not there then
the court may decide, the heirs to be entitled to
be treated as tenants.
11. Case: Kamal chintaman mithart v/s
Ganpatao Ramchandra Powar
• Held: Mistress who was in exclusive keeping
of a statutory tenant living with the him until
his death, would be considered to be a
member of the tenants family.
12. Sec 2(o) Tenant
Means: Any person by whom or whose account or
behalf the rent of the building is payable.
Includes in event of his death:
a) The surviving Spouse, a Son, unmarried daughter
b) Father or mother who had been living with him as
a member of his family up to the date of his death.
c) A Subtenant
d) Person continuing in possession after the
termination of his tenancy
Does not Include: Person against whom a decree/
order of eviction has been made.
13. Case: Samiro Mascarenhas
v/s Valante Dcosta
• A person is a tenant or not is a mixed question of
fact & law. The issue cannot be decided unless the
parties are given an opportunity to lead their
evidence & prove the facts alleged by them.
* Earlier the 1978 amdt only restricted the right of
inheritance in favour of a specific class of people. It
did not provide any right of heritability of tenancy
in favour of the Spouse & other class of persons
14. Case: Purificacao Fernandes v/s
Hugo Vincent de Perpetuo Succoro Andrade Menezes
• Lease was created for commercial purpose
under the provisions of decree no 43525
dated 7/03/1961- was held to not heritable by
the legal representatives of the original lessee
under the provisions of the Act
15. Case : Josepha Fernandes v/s
Aulio Joaquim Vaz & ors
• The tenant claimed to be a mundkar under sec 2(p) of
the Mundkar Act when in fact there existed a document
by which some consideration was being paid to the
Landlord from time to time for the occupation of the
house.
• The Court held that merely because the old tenanted
house was demolished by the owner who replaced it
with a new house for its occupants– cannot be called as
tenants as they stayed in the new stucture as mundkars
of the same bhatkar as landlord and document of
tenancy is valid.
16. Case: Sushilabhai Dantye v/s
Ganpat Kudtarkar
• Tenancy was created between Dantye &
Ganpat in the year 1974 , who expired in
1977.
• On the ground that there are no more
tenants, the rent controller directed the
member of dantye to vacate the suit premises
& held that the tenancy is not heritable.
• The Administrative tribunal upheld the
decision and so Dantye family appealed in HC.
17. • Held : Tenancy was always heritable under sec
2(b) of the 1978 amdt that specified the class
of people who can inherit.
• As Sushilabai is the spouse of Mr. Dantye and
at the time of his death, she along her son and
unmarried daughter were living with him and
hence they are entitled to be brought within
the purview of Sec 2(b)
18. Case Hirabai Talaulikar
v/s Joao Santa Rita Camora
• The Rent Tribunal held that inheritance of tenancy is
possible only in cases of residential premises & not
commercial premises.
• Aggrieved with this decision the tenants family appealed
to the Adm tribunal, who upheld the decision of the
Rent controller.
• The HC held that there is no categorical distinction
between the residential premises & the tenancy of
commercial premises.
• SC held that tenancy between commercial & residential
premises cannot be differentiated . Hence the widow is
the legal representative & can inherit tenancy.
