PERIOD OF TENANCY AND LIMITED PERIOD OF TENANCY

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This article is written by Priyadarshini Chakraborty of 7^th Semester of Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri Law College, University Of Calcutta, an intern under Legal Vidhiya

Abstract

The concept of Occupancy of land or any part of the land for human habitat has been covering the areas of necessities of human beings from time immemorial. In simple words, the temporary occupancy of such land occupied by human beings in exchange for money is commonly known as tenancy. The individual inhabiting such land is known as the tenant. The tenant here is not the absolute owner of the property but is the temporary right holder of the specific land for a specified period although subjected to few restrictions. Only after signing the rental deed does the quick right holder of the said property or the tenant is granted access to the property. In India, all such provisions are explained well under the Tenancy Act. The State Tenancy Act defines the requirements of the tenancy under each state precisely and efficiently. For example, for the state of West Bengal, the Tenancy Acts are The West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act,1997, The West Bengal Apartment Ownership ACT,1972, and The West Bengal Land Reforms Act,1955. The same applies to other states where the competent Court Of Law decides matters on tenancy based on their specific condition Tenancy Act (Karnataka Rent Control Act 1999, Orissa Tenancy Act 1913, The Maharashtra Rent Control Act 1999(MAH. ACT NO. 18 OF 200), Uttar Pradesh Tenancy Act,1939, The Uttar Pradesh Regulation of Premises Tenancy Act,2021 Act NO. 16 OF 2021). To get a clear concept and knowledge of the rights and other essentials related to the tenancy, one has to get to know about the tenancy provisions of the specific state in which one will reside. Moreover, it is our right to get complete information about the rights that we enjoy as well as the duties that we are obliged to as a tenant.

KEYWORDS:

the period of tenancy, limited period of tenancy, Transfer of Property Act, 1882, characteristics, types of lease agreements, types of tenancy settlements in India, rights of tenant, rights of landlord, Rental Control Act

INTRODUCTION

In other and more simple words the word tenancy is the privilege and right to reside in any land owned by another individual for a specified and stipulated period in exchange for reimbursing a sum to the rightful owner. Any such payment of money or sum in such a tenancy agreement is known as the rent, the person who stays in such a rental property is known as the Tenant and the rightful owner of such a property is commonly known as the landowner. Apart from the state tenancy acts, the whole concept of the tenancy, the period of tenancy act, and the limited period of tenancy come under the complete Sections of the Transfer of Property Act, of 1882. The types of tenancy agreements that are provided in India are:

Rent agreement
Lease agreement
Leave and Licence agreements

RELEVANT CHARACTERISTICS OF TENANCY

It is a special kind of voluntary agreement entered into by both the parties that is the tenant and the landlord for a specified period. Generally and popularly all tenancy agreements have to be established through any written agreements unlike otherwise subjected to a few exceptions, where the rental agreement is a kind of Tenancy at Will agreement. In such cases, the rental agreement is established by both parties (the landlord and the tenant) based on two types of choices preferred by the parties. Here the agreement is settled through oral or written settlements for a specified period. In such cases, both the landlord and the tenant have the right to discontinue or terminate the understanding of the agreement at any time. Unlike any other Tenancy agreement where the main essential significance lay or is based on the limited period of tenancy for the tenant beyond which his right is no more exercised as a tenant of that specified property.

Classifications of Tenancy in India

Below are the widely accepted types of Tenancy agreements or settlements in India. All the below-highlighted tenancy agreements or settlements need to be documented or registered. One thing that the landlord or the rightful owner of such property should know is that if such tenancy agreement is not registered or not documented legally and the tenant does any act or any conduct which is wrongful or violative, along with the tenant the rightful owner of such property shall also face the consequences or shall be penalized for any such wrongful acts of conduct. Here are the major or widely accepted types of tenancy in India.

Statutory Tenancy: The word statutory means or indicates anything which is regulated or on perfect explanation maintained by the competent Court of Law. In this type of tenancy, there is no limited period of tenancy, in such cases, the tenant or the occupant has the right by statute to make restitution with rent and carry on with his occupation under the rent control or any other emergency legislation. In simple words, statutory tenancy means a tenant whose period of tenancy has expired in the eyes of ordinary law but can carry on with his tenancy as an occupant under any legislation or statute. In such cases, the eviction of the tenant is only possible when there is any destruction of any property or it appears on reasonable grounds that the tenant has not been using the property for six months or more than six months. Generally, evictions of tenants in this case are a bit difficult as he is protected against evictions.
Lease: In such type of agreement or settlement the temporary right holder is known as Lessee. Here the Lessee enjoys more rights than any other tenants in any other such rental agreements or settlements which are settled between the rightful owner and the tenant. In general and more simple terms a lease settlement is legal documentation that delineates and sketches the rental terms and conditions for either commercial or residential possession of the land. Such legal documents or settlements are also known as apartment leases or lease forms. In a lease settlement, an individual can lead all types of possession of the property, including articles like boats and cars. In general and in most of the time lease agreements are used for real estate including both residential and commercial property. Here are the most common types of lease agreements or settlements:
Retail or commercial lease agreement: Commercial property merely means all those properties which are used for the production of the whole society or the entire mass at large including commercial buildings like offices, factories, and producing or manufacturing factories. Generally in this type of agreement or settlement, the profit arising out of such settlement directly reflects in the economic capital of the country.
Weakly lease agreement: Such properties mainly include properties that are mostly and commonly used for vacation.
Short-term Lease agreement: In such a type of lease agreement it is generally used for a short term for any unusual periods.
Condominium lease agreement: It is a kind of lease agreement in which a resident owns land or a property in which that shares some building amenities with another lessee or tenants.
Standard Lease Agreement: Such type of Lease Agreement is implemented or is generally used for single-family homes, apartments, and any other such residential properties.
Parking space lease agreement: In such type of Lease Agreement specified land is used for parking of either heavy vehicles or any small vehicles like cars, motorbikes etc.
License: According to the Indian Easement Act,1882 Licence is a type of tenancy agreement or settlement that grants the right to possession of the property to another person or group of persons or individuals to reside in his immovable property for a specified period or in any simple terms to the extent of the limited period of tenancy. After which it is the discretionary power or the authority of the rightful owner of the property to allow such individuals to reside in such a property. In such cases, such a type of right is popularly called the Licence and the person enjoying such a right is known as the Licensee. If such type of right is not legally executed by the soulful consent of the rightful owner of the property or any such type of possession, shall be referred to as unlawful possession of such property, similarly, such right would not be considered to have amounted or to be counted as an easement or any such right to the property.

Period of tenancy:

Most commonly the period of tenancy agreements or settlements is fixed for a stipulated or a specified period. Landlords or rightful owners of any such rental property do not want to risk their safety for a tenant who does any act or conduct which is violative. As the law clearly states that failure of any such agreement by the landowner shall also put him jeopardized equally as the tenant who does any wrongful act which is both violative and morally wrong. These fixed terms are usually for 6 months or 12 months. Although such a period can be extended to a longer period or a shorter period, according to the specific need of the property. In case of a Lease agreement or settlement, the maximum period of Lease validity is for 99 years and the minimum period is of 12 months. Another important fact that should be kept in mind is that the lease period may ordinarily differ depending on specific state laws and the nature of the property being leased. According to the provisions of the Registration Act, of 1908 it is compulsory to register any rental agreement or settlement if the period is more than 12 months. To avoid the unnecessary stag of stamp responsibilities or obligations and registration indictments, generally Licence or leave agreements are for 11 months. Most commonly and popularly this 11-month rental agreement and settlement is chosen by both parties. Moreover in the Licence, the tenant here is granted a bit less rights and can be subjected to evictions more easily unlike other such agreements where eviction of the tenant is a bit difficult.

Rights of a tenant and a landlord:

The landowner of a property is the one and only soulful owner of the property. Even if he comes to a settlement of renting his property it does not convey in any sense that the tenant here has adverse possession for the property. A tenant has no such right to the property. Here are the few rights of the landowner under the Rental Control Act and the Transfer of the Property Act:

Right to evict: The grounds of eviction of a tenant are well explained under this Act under which the one and foremost ground is that when a tenant does any act which is violative in nature, the landlord has the right to evict him after serving him with a notice of eviction before approaching the Court of competent law.
Right to charge rent: The owner of the property has all right to levy rent from the tenant and increase it periodically as per his wish but such statements of increasing rent shall be stated clearly under the agreement.
Repossession of rental property: He has the right to reoccupy the property to make necessary changes, alterations, renovations, or maintenance of his property.

The rights of a tenant are as follows:

He cannot be evicted unfairly. There has to be a reasonable ground for his eviction and cannot be evicted based on any lame justification.
He has the right to all the basic and essential services related to the property like electricity, common pathway, etc.
To pay a fair rent is another important right of the tenant. The landowner cannot ask for unreasonable and irrational payment of money. The rental value of the property is generally 8% to 10% of the property.

Case Laws

In Neetu Singh V The State of Uttar Pradesh: In this specific case the tenant defaulted in paying the rental amount to the landowner for quite a long time. In a nearby Police Station, the landowner lodges a complaint under section 406 that is a breach of trust and 420 stating cheating. The tenant under section 482 requested the Honorable Allahabad High Court to quash the FIR. In the case of Neetu Singh V the State of Uttar Pradesh, the Honorable High Court did not agree to the matter and therefore declined the appeal application of the defendant. The tenant approached the justices of the Supreme Court. The Apex Court here highlighted and discussed the matter in brief whether an FIR can be lodged for default of payment of rent. After discussing the matters and all possible aspects of the above-mentioned sections in 420 and 406.

It was upheld by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India that no criminal offense has been committed by the tenant for not being able to pay the rent for a few months. No criminal obligations of sections under the purview of the Indian Penal Code shall be brought up. In such cases, a civil remedy is available for failing to pay rent.

Conclusion:

As mentioned before the concept of the tenancy and its fixed period has been in practice from time immemorial. During British tenure, a few such popular land tenures were the Zamindari system, Ryotwari System, the Mahalwari, or the joint tenure system. The concept and the provisions of the Laws and Acts put an end to the intermediaries and established direct contact between the landowner and the tenant with more specified and equal rights and obligations of duties by both parties.

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