pugrees offer such flexibility, it turns out, only because these are behind-the-scenes deals by and large involving only black money. That brings us to the central question: would anybody pay pugree if it were made legal? Will buyers be willing to expose so much of money to the preying eyes of taxmen, that too for a flat that technically would never be theirs? ``With a pugree amount being close to the prevalent price of an ownership flat, wouldn't it make more sense to buy aflat?'' asks senior advocate of small-causes court, Mulraj Shah. It's a question that government should be asking itself. For, by regularising pugree it wants to tap all the unaccounted money, which may just not be possible.

Experts believe that a legalised a pugree system would put tenants at the mercy of their landlords. In quite a few old buildings tenancies have changed from one generation to another. However, since pugrees constituted informal deals, tenancy rights have not changed. So, some of the tenants are still paying rents in the name of their fathers and forefathers. In some cases in the name of people they are not even directly related to. Now if pugree is made legal, these tenants would become illegal occupants. While sub-letting was made legal upto February 1, 1973, occupants who have come to occupy residential premises through another tenant after this cut-off date and haven't got the tenancy rights transferred, may be surely in for some serious trouble.

FormerMHADA president, Chandrashekhar Prabhu, said the move to legalise pugree was wrong and among its immediate fallout would be that the ``tenant ownership scheme passed in 1986 will be rendered useless.'' He said over 50 per cent of the existing residents of old buildings do not have the rent receipt in their names.

The landlords may now demand money for transfer of rights and even use the threat to derail tenants' attempt to gain ownership of their building under the scheme. ``If the government is interested in regularising black money, they should think of other ways. For instance, transfer fees for new tenants with effect from 1998 would be understandable.''

Mahabaleshwar Morje, secretary, Flat Owners' Association, however is quite excited by the government's plan. He told Express Newsline that legalisation of pugree would make available huge amounts of money to landlords that they could use to repair old buildings. Besides, by legalising pugree, he said, state government would earnlawful revenue by way of income tax and stamp duty. But Morje seems to be overlooking one point that is after the legalisation if a tenant were to surrender his tenancy, where would the landlord pay him the pugree from.

Because, after all the pugree he had got from the tenant was unaccounted. Anil Goenka, president, Federation of Old Buildings Cooperative Housing Societies and Tenants Association, feels in such scenarios land sharks would play a vital role by stepping in with their money bags.

Pugree trouble

Pugree, accepted while leasing out a flat/premises, is permitted in Vidharba and Marathwada in the state. Even in Western Maharashtra, it is prohibited only in Mumbai under Section 18 and 19 of the Bombay Rent Act, 1947. For tenancy in old buildings, the pugree is collected in four stages of transaction between landlords and tenants: while creating new tenancy, at the time of renewal of tenancy, surrendering of tenancy (when the tenant gets a pugree) and transfer oftenancy.

A flat leased out after charging a pugree is as good as sold, though a nominal rent is collected every month for records sake. While the pugree amount is returned partially, a deposit, (usually ranging between three and 12 months of rent) is given back when tenancy is surrendered.

There are reportedly over four lakh double-room (180 square feet) tenements in over 1,96,42 old buildings built before 1940 in Mumbai. But pugree rates differ from place to place. At Marine Drive, for instance, with its large flats, (between 1,000 and 1,500 sq ft), the pugree amount runs into crores of rupees. But at Kalbadevi, a 180 square-feet residential flat commands a pugree of Rs 10 lakh.