Parties must execute a written agreement under the Act to regulate rent; failure to do so allows for eviction, regardless of prior tenancy arrangements.

ORDER :

1. Challenging the concurrent findings of the Rent Court as well as the Appellate Court, the present revision petition has been filed.

Background of the case in nutshell:

2. The revision petitioner is a Tenant under the respondents, who are Landlords and an eviction petition was filed by the Landlords under Sections 21(2)(a), 21(2)(b), 21(2)(d) and 21(2)(g) of the TAMIL NADU REGULATION OF RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF LANDLORDS AND TENANTS ACT , 2017 (in short 'the Act, 2017'). According to the Landlords, they purchased the property on 05.10.2016 and since then, they are the absolute owners of the premises. They issued a legal notice on 07.09.2019, calling upon the tenants to pay the arrears of rent at Rs.1,100/- per month from October, 2016 till date. A reply dated 30.09.2019 was sent by the Tenant, agreeing to pay the arrears of rent and wanted to register the agreement of tenancy, for which a rejoinder dated 14.10.2019 was also sent by the Landlords, followed by yet another reply dated 18.11.2019, enclosing a draft agreement of tenancy, as demanded in the notices issued by the Tenant. However, the Tenant had not come forward to execute the agreement and therefore, eviction was sought under Section 21(2)(a) of the Act, 2017 and also on the ground of additional accommodation.

3. In the counter filed before the Court below, a contention was raised by the Tenant that she was originally inducted as a Tenant by one Krishnaiah in respect of the portion in the ground floor of the petition premises for non residential purposes and the rear portion for residential purposes. Ever since the inception of tenancy, the Tenant has been paying monthly rents without fail. According to the Tenant, she had been originally paying the rent to the owner of the premies through Power Agent of the owners and as the owner had refused to receive the monthly rent, the Tenant had filed R.C.O.P.No.613 of 2010 and her husband also filed R.C.O.P.No.614 of 2010 for deposit of monthly rents into Court and the same was allowed by an order dated 05.04.2011 by XI Court of Small Causes. By the said order, the Tenant was directed to deposit monthly rents at the rate of Rs.1,100/- from January, 2010.

4. It was further stated in the counter that on 07.09.2019, the Landlords / present owners of the property called upon the Tenant to enter into an agreement, besides paying the monthly rent from October, 2016 to July, 2019, for which, the Tenant also sent a reply, expressing her willingness to enter into an agreement upon production of the conclusive proof of ownership. On receipt of the notice, the Landlords sent a reply on 14.10.2019, from which, the Tenant came to know that the property had been purchased on 05.10.2016 and thereafter, a reply to the rejoinder dated 25.10.2019 was sent by the Tenant, expressing her inclination to enter into a lease agreement duly pointing out that she had deposited monthly rents into Court from October, 2016. However, the Landlords, without taking into consideration the Court deposit, insisted the Landlord to pay rents from October, 2016 and a draft agreement was purported to be enclosed.

5. It is the contention of the Tenant that though she had received notices from the Landlords, there was no copy of the draft agreement enclosed. When the matter stood thus, the Landlords immediately filed the petition for recovery of possession on 19.12.2019 and hence opposed the petition for eviction.

6. The Rent Court had allowed the application on the ground of non execution of agreement after the Act, 2017 came into force and rejected the petition for eviction on