IMPORTANT POINT
Creation of tenancy – Oral lease is possible and an unregistered lease deed can be received in evidence under certain circumstances to prove character of possession.

ORDER

R. Subramanian, J.—Challenge in these Civil Revision Petitions is to the orders of the Rent Court passed in various Original Petitions filed under the Tamilnadu Regulation of Rights and Responsibilities of Landlords and Tenants Act, 2017, hereinafter referred to as “the New Act” for the sake of brevity and convenience, rejecting the said original petitions on the ground of maintainability.

2. The only reason for rejection of these petitions even at the stage of numbering is the absence of a registered Tenancy Agreement, which according to the Rent Court, is mandatory for the purposes of invoking the jurisdiction of the Rent Court under the New Act. Before dealing with the individual cases, it will be advantageous to refer to the object and the provisions of the New Act, which are germane for our purposes.

3. The object of the enactment is to establish a frame work for the regulation of rent and to balance the rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants and to provide fast adjudication process for resolution of disputes, and matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Section 2(a) defines an “Agreement” or a “Tenancy Agreement” as follows:

Section 2(a): “agreement” or “tenancy agreement” means the written agreement executed by the landlord and the tenant as required under this Act and shall include a sub-tenancy agreement and sublease agreement;

Section 2(c) defines a “landlord” as follows:

Section 2 (c): “landlord” means a person, who for the time being is receiving, or is entitled to receive, the rent of any premises, on his own account, if the premises were let to a tenant, and shall include his successor-in-interest:

Provided that where a person is receiving rent for any premises is entitled to so receive, on account of, or on behalf of, or for the benefit of, any other person who cannot enter into a contract (such as minor, person with unsound mind, etc.), whether as a trustee, guardian or receiver, then, the said trustee, guardian or receiver shall also be a landlord for the purposes of this Act.

Section 2(n) defines a “tenant” as follows:

Section 2 (n): “tenant” means a person by whom or on whose account or behalf the rent of any premises is, or, but for a contract express or implied, would be payable for any premises and includes any person occupying the premises as a sub-tenant and also, any person continuing in possession after the termination of his tenancy whether before or after the commencement of this Act; but shall not include any person against whom any order or decree for eviction has been made.

Section 4 deals with a “Tenancy Agreement”, it reads as follows:

Section 4: Tenancy Agreement

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or any other law for the time being in force, no person shall, after the commencement of this Act, let or take on rent any premises except by an agreement in writing.

(2) Where, in relation to a tenancy created before the commencement of this Act, no agreement in writing was entered into, the landlord and the tenant shall enter into an agreement in writing with regard to that tenancy within a period of five hundred and seventy five days from the date of commencement of this Act:

Provided that where the landlord or tenant, fails to enter into an agreement under this subsection, the landlord or tenant shall have the right to apply for termination of the tenancy under clause (a) of sub-section (2) of Section 21.

(3) Every agreement referred to in sub-Section (1) and sub-section (2) and any tenancy agreement in writing already entered into before the commencement of this Act, shall be registered with the Rent Authority by the landlord or tenant, by making an application in the Form specified in the First Schedule within such time as may be prescribed.

(4) On receipt of application under subsection (3) the Rent Authority shall, within a period of thirty days, register the agreement subject to the provisions of this Act and the Rules made thereunder