MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 13: Apparently rattled by the mileage gained by Murli Deora on the Bombay Rent Act issue, the Mumbai unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party today filed a criminal complaint against him for, what it termed, propagating `false information' about the Supreme Court judgement.Deora's persistent campaign on the Rent Act issue is seen to have struck a chord with residents of South Mumbai, from where he is contesting the Lok Sabha polls.
The complaint has been filed with the Cuffe Parade police station by BJP's Mumbai unit secretary, Advocate Sanjeev Kanchan. At a press conference today, Mumbai unit president Kirit Somaiyya informed the case had been filed under Section 153 of the Indian Penal Code. By propagating false information, Somaiyya alleged, Deora had created fear in the minds of voters about the judgement and was trying to create enmity between landlords and tenants. He added Deora had published false and distorted statements in various newspaper advertisements that tenants would beevicted from April 1, 1998, and that legal heirs of tenants would have no tenancy rights but be liable for eviction.
If necessary, the state government would issue an ordinance to protect tenants' rights, Somaiya assured, adding Chief Minister Manohar Joshi had made it clear that the government would take care of tenants while drafting the new Rent Act. He said the present bill pending in the state legislature to replace the Rent Control Act was introduced in 1993 by the then Congress Housing Minister Chhagan Bhujbal. The state government had, in the bill, proposed an annual hike of five per cent in the standard rent, with retrospective effect from 1940. Subsequently, the bill was referred to a joint select committee for its recommendations. Once the poll code was lifted, Somaiya informed, the state government in consultation with the joint select committee would frame the new Act.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
