Mumbai's tenants on short lease, could be evicted

Mumbai's tenants on short lease, could be evicted
Vinu Lal

Mumbai, April 25: Tenants in Mumbai would do well to find out whether their apartments are located on ``leasehold land'' for that most dreaded of all terms -- Eviction -- has returned to haunt this section of residents. Those who realise that they indeed occupy such premises would then do well to either shop for fresh lodgings or seek legal remedy forthwith as the state government has ``legitimised'' their eviction by ever so subtly removing their premises from the protective umbrella of the new rent control legislation.

While drafting the new Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 2000 -- which took effect on April 1 -- the state government in one fell swoop revoked the tenancy rights of all individuals who occupy ``land not being used for agricultural purposes'' as the definition of `premises' does not cover such property under the new legislation. These tenants, who had been conferred tenancy rights by the old Bombay Rent Act, 1949, can therefore be easily evicted by their respective landlords at the latters' whims.

Real estate experts say the new act, drafted under the stewardship of former Minister of State for Housing Raj Purohit and hailed as being tenant-friendly, deliberately introduced this anomaly at the behest of the builder-politician lobby so that they can evict their tenants and construct highrise buildings.

There are several properties including at least 1,000 housing societies in Mumbai which stand on leasehold land. In such instances, the land-owner and owner of the building are two distinct entities, whereby the former leases only the land to the latter, who owns only the building. The building owner, thereafter rents out the premises to tenants.

Though on the face of it, it appears as an error in drafting the new act, the impact of this deletion is enormous, real estate experts say. They allege that this was done at the bidding of developers and politicians as there are hundreds of such buildings in Mumbai owned by them. Moreover, many of these structures are old buildings in prime areas and these could be razed and replaced by highrises. Since these properties are no longer protected under the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 2000, they could then be rented out at hefty premiums, preferably to commercial users.

The matter has been brought to the notice of the chief minister, who has been urged to issue an ordinance amending the new act.

Says Mahabaleshwar Morje, secretary of the Flat Owners' Association: ``The impact of the deletion of this clause is really huge. People likely to be affected include tenants of land given on lease from the government to housing societies for construction of houses, land tenanted to a landlord for construction of buildings and sub-letting them, land given for running petrol pumps, garages, storage houses etc.''

Much to the advantage of landlords, there are no contractual obligations on their part towards the tenants as usually no agreements are signed between the two parties. Tenants pay their mutually agreed rents for a period ranging from five to 10 years, which is usually extended. This is because these tenants were protected under the Bombay Rent Act, 1949. But with the omission of such land from the definition of `premises', landlords can ask the building owners to vacate the land, which could mean eviction for the tenants.

``It is surprising that the clause was deleted from the old act even though there were no suggestions to this effect from tenants or landlords or any other sections of people. Roughly, there are at least 1,000 housing societies which are directly affected by this deletion. We have submitted a memorandum to the chief minister in this regard.'' Howeve, against the collective might of land-owners, builders and politicians, the tenants stand little chance other than to approach court.