BIHAR BUILDINGS (LEASE, RENT AND EVICTION) CONTROL ACT, 1982

Act No. 4 of 1983

29.1.1983

An Act to regulate the letting of building and the rent of such buildings and to prevent unreasonable eviction of tenants therefrom in the State of Bihar. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Bihar in the Thirty-third year of the Republic of India as follows :--1 1. Assented by the President on 29.1.1983 and published in Bihar Gazette (Extra.), No. 242, dated 21.2.1983.

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S.1 Short title extent and commencement

(1) This Act may be called the Bihar Buildings (Lease, Rent and Eviction) Control Act, 1982.

(2) It applies to the whole of the State of Bihar.

(3) Section 28 shall come in force immediately and the remaining provisions of this Act shall be deemed to have come into force on the 1st of April, 1981 and shall continue to remain in force :

Provided that the period between expiration of the Bihar Building (Lease, Rent and Eviction) Control Act, 1977 (Bihar Act XVI of 1977) and the commencement of this Act shall not--

• (a) render recoverable any sum which during the continuation thereof was irrecoverable or affect the right of a tenant to recover any sum which during the continuance of the Act was recoverable by him thereunder; or
• (b) affect any liability incurred under that Act or any punishment incurred in respect of any contravention of that Act or any order made thereunder; or
• (c) affect any investigation or legal proceeding in respe
  

S.2 Definitions

In this Act unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context:--

• (a) "appellate authority" means in respect of any local areas the Collector of the district in which such areas are situated and includes any other officer empowered by the State Government to perform the functions of an appellate authority;
• (b) "building" means any building, or hut or a part of the building or hut, let or to be let, separately for residential or non-residential purposes and includes--
  • (i) the garden, grounds and out houses, if any, appurtenant to such building or hut or part of such building or hut, and
  • (ii) any furniture supplied by the landlord for use in such building or hut or part of building or hut.
• (c) "Controller" means in respect of any local areas comprised within the limit of sub-division, the Sub-Divisional Officer Incharge of the Sub-Division, and includes any other officer appointed in this behalf by the
  

S.3 Premium, salami, fine or advance of more than one month's rent not to be claimed or received

It shall not be lawful for any person to claim or receive, in consideration of the grant, renewal or continuance of a tenancy of any building, the payment of any premium, salami, fine or any other like sum in addition to the rent or payment of any sum exceeding one months rent of such building as rent in advance.

S.4 Enhancement of rent of buildings

Notwithstanding anything contained in any agreement or law to the contrary, it shall not be lawful for any landlord to increase or claim any increase in the rent which is payable for the time being, in respect of any building except in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

S.5 Determination of fair rent of buildings in occupation of tenants

(1) When, on application by the landlord or by the tenant in possession of a building or otherwise, the Controller has reason to believe that the rent of that building is low or excessive, he shall hold a summary enquiry and record a finding.

(2) If, on a consideration of all the circumstances of the case including any amount paid by the tenant by way of premium or any other like sum in addition to the rent, the Controller is satisfied that the rent of the building is low or excessive he shall determine the fair rent for such building.

S.6 Determination of fair rent of buildings not in occupation of tenants

The Controller may, on his own motion, and shall on the application of the landlord or a prospective tenant and after making such enquiry, as he may think fit, determine the fair rent for any building not in the occupation of a tenant.

S.7 Re-determination of fair rent in certain cases

(1) If at any time after the fair rent of a building has been determined under Sections 5 or 6, it appears to the Controller that subsequent to such determination some addition, improvement or alteration not included in the repairs, which the landlord is bound to make under any law, contract or custom, has been made to the building at the landlord's expense, the Controller may after making such inquiry, as he thinks fit, re-determine the fair rent of the building.

(2) Any increase in the fair rent allowed under sub-section (1) shall not in any month exceed 5/8th per cent. of the cost of the addition, improvement or alteration.

S.8 Matters to be considered in determining fair rent

(1) (a) For the purposes of this Act the fair rent of a building shall be determined as for a tenancy from month to month.

(b) The fair rent of a building shall be determined in accordance with the rule framed for this purpose.

(c) In determining the fair rent of any 1[* * *] building under Section 5 or 6, the Controller shall have due regard to the prevailing rates of rent in the locality for the same or similar accommodation in similar circumstances at any time during the twelve months preceding the 2[1st December, 1980], and to the increased cost of repairs, and in the case a building which has been constructed after that date, also to any general increase in the cost of site and building construction :

Provided that where the Controller is satisfied, on an application made to him by the landlord under Section 5, that the rent of a building referred to in this clause is low, the Controller shall, in determining the fair rent of such bui

S.9 Directions for repairs to the building

(1) Every landlord shall carry out the repairs which he is bound, under any law, contract or custom, to make to a building in the possession of tenant.

Explanation.--In this sub-section "repairs" include annual white washing, re-colouring and periodical repairs.

(2) If the landlord fails to carry out annual white- washing re-colouring and periodical repairs, which he is bound to make, the tenant may by notice require him to carry out the same within one month from that date of service of the notice and, on the landlord's failure to do so within the said period, the tenant may himself carry out the same at a cost not exceeding one month's rent for the building and deduct such cost from the rent.

(3) If the landlord neglects to carry out repairs, other than those referred to in sub-section (2), which he is bound to make, the Controller shall, on application by the tenant, which shall specify the approximate cost of such repairs, cause a notice to be served on the

S.10 Landlord not to interfere with amenities enjoyed by the tenant

(1) No landlord shall, without just or sufficient cause cut off or withhold any of the amenities enjoyed by the tenant.

(2) A tenant in possession of a building may if the landlord has contravened the provisions of sub-section (1) make an application to the Controller complaining of such contravention and may restore any of the amenities on his own responsibility, pending consideration of his application by the Controller.

(3) If the Controller on enquiry is satisfied that the landlord has without just or sufficient cause cut off or withheld any of the amenities enjoyed by the tenant at the time of the commencement of the tenancy or at any time there after, he shall--

• (i) in case such amenity has already been restored by the tenant make an order directing the landlord to pay to the tenant the cost of such restoration as determined by him within such time as may be specified in the order; and
• (ii) in any other case, direct the landlord to restore
  

S.11 Eviction of tenants

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any contract or law to the contrary but subject to the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (Act XIV of 1947), and to those of Section 18, where a tenant is in possession of any building, he shall not be liable to eviction therefrom except in execution of a decree passed by the Court on one or more of the following grounds,--

• (a) for breach of the conditions of the tenancy, or for subletting the building or any portion thereof without the consent of the landlord, or if he is an employee of the landlord occupying the building as an employee, on his ceasing to be in such employment;
• (b) where the condition of the building has materially deteriorated owing to acts of waste by, or negligence or default of the tenant or of any person residing with the tenant or for whose behaviour the tenant is responsible;
• (c) where the building is reasonably and in good faith required by the landlord for his own occupa
  

S.12 Binding nature of the order of the Court on all persons in occupation of the building

Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law, where the interest of tenant, in any premises is determined for any reason, whatsoever, and any order is made by the Court under this Act, for the recovery of possession of such premises, the order shall be binding on all persons who may be in occupation of the premises and vacant possession thereof shall be given to the landlord by evicting all such persons therefrom :

Provide9d that nothing in this section shall apply to any person who has an independent title to such a premises or 1[***] to tenant who has been inducted with the express written permission of the landlord himself personally.

1. Words "at the rate of "deleted by Amdt. Act 4 of 1994 (w.e.f. 14.2.1994).

S.13 The provisions of Section 14 to have overriding effect

The provisions of Section 14 or any rule made thereunder shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained elsewhere in this or in any other law for the time being in force.

S.14 Special procedure for disposal of cases for eviction on ground of bonafide requirement

(1) Every suit by a landlord for the recovery of possession of any premises on the ground specified in clause (c) or (e) of sub-section (1) of Section 11 shall be dealt with in accordance with the procedure specified in this section.

(2) The Court shall issue summons in the prescribed form in every suit referred in sub-section (1) without delay.

(3) (i) The Court shall, in addition to, and simultaneously with the issue of summons for service on the tenant or tenants, also direct the summons to be served by registered post with acknowledgement due, addressed to the tenant or his agent empowered to accept the service at the place where the tenant or his agent actually and voluntarily resides or carries on business or personally works for gain and may, if the circumstances of the case so require also direct the publication of the summons in the Official Gazette or in newspapers circulating in the locality, in which the tenant is last known to have resided or carried on b

S.14A Special provisions for active/ex-servicemen of Military

1[(1) Where the landlord has been in active military service or is ex-servicemen or has been discharged or retired from service or is to retire or has died while in such active service and any member of his family is in actual necessity of house, then on an application being filed by the landlord or any member of his family, the competent Court after issuing notice of fifteen days and on being satisfied after hearing that the claim of the landlord is genuine, by order, shall direct the tenant to give possession of the house to the landlord or his family member and if the Court is not satisfied with the claim of such landlord, it shall pass order rejecting the application :

Provided that if the landlord or his widow has more than one residential house, then such landlord or his widow shall have no right to take back possession of more than one house or if the ex-serviceman has rented anyone house to the present tenant after his retirement, in such circumstances the

S.15 Deposit of rent by tenants in suits for ejectment

(1) If, in a suit for recovery of possession of any building the tenant contests the suit as regards claim for ejectment, landlord may move an application at any stage of the suit for order on the tenant to deposit rent month by month at a rate at which it was last paid and also subject to the law to limitation, the arrears of rent, if any, and the Court after giving opportunity to the parties to be heard, may make any order for deposit of rent month by month at such rate as may be determined and the arrears of rent, both before 1[or] after the institution of the suit if any and on failure of the tenant to deposit the arrears of rent within fifteen days of the date of order or the rent at such rate for any month by the fifteenth day of the next following month; the Court shall order the defence against ejectment to be struck off and the tenant to be placed in the same position as if he had not defended the claim to ejectment and further the Court shall not allow the tena

S.16 Deposit of rent determined by the Controller during the pendency of appeal or revision

1[The appellate authority or the Commissioner may, after giving an opportunity to the parties to be heard make an order for deposit of rent at such rate as may be determined, month by month and arrears of rent, if any, and in case of non-compliance of this order, the appellate authority or the Commissioner shall order the defence against the fair rent order to be struck off. The landlord may apply for permission to withdraw the amount of rent so deposited without prejudice to any other legal remedy to which he is otherwise entitled and the Court may permit him to do so.]

1. Sub-section (1) deleted and sub-section (2) made original section by Act 4 of 1994 (w.e.f. 14.2.1994) which ruas as under: (1) Where the fair rent of any building has been determined by the Controller under provisions of this Act and the tenant prefers an appeal to the appellants authority against the order of the Controller or makes an application for revision to the Commissioner against t

S.17 When a tenant is entitled to restoration of possession and compensation

Where the landlord recovers possession of any building from the tenant by virtue of a decree secured because of clauses (c) and (e) of sub-section (1) of Section 11 and the building is not occupied by the landlord, or by the person for whose benefit the building is held, within one month of the date of vacation of the building by such tenant, or the building, having been so occupied is re-let within six months of the date of such occupation to any person other than such tenant without the permission of the Controller, the Court may, on the application of such tenant, made within one month of his vacating the building, and giving the landlord an opportunity of being heard, by order direct the landlord to put such tenant in possession of the building or to pay him such compensation as may be fixed by the Court or both.

S.18 Extension of period limited by lease

(1) If a tenant in possession of any building, held on a lease for a specified period, intends to extend the period limited by such lease, he may give the landlord, at least one month before the expiry of the period limited by the lease, a written notice of his intention to do so, and upon the delivery of such notice the said time shall subject to the provision of Section 11 be deemed to have been extended by double the period covered by the original lease subject to a maximum of one year only.

(2) Where the landlord to whom notice has been given under sub-section (1) wishes to object to the extension demanded by the tenant on one or more of the grounds mentioned in sub-section (1) of Section 11 or on the ground that the landlord has any other good and sufficient cause for terminating the lease on the expiry of period limited thereby, he may within fifteen days of the delivery of such notice, apply to the Court in that behalf and the Court after hearing the parties may termi

S.19 Deposit of rent by tenant on refusal of the landlord to accept it or in case of doubt or dispute as to the person entitled to receive it

(1) When a landlord refuses to accept any rent lawfully payable to him by a tenant in respect of any building, the tenant may remit such rent, and continue to remit any subsequent rent which becomes due in respect of such building, by postal money order to the landlord.

(2) Where any 1[bonafide] doubt or dispute has arisen as to the person who is entitled to receive any rent in respect of any building, the tenant may deposit such rent in the prescribed manner, stating the circumstances under which such deposit is made and, may until such doubt has been removed or such dispute has been settled by the decision of any competent Court or by settlement between the parties, continue to deposit in like manner, the rent that may subsequently become due in respect of such building.

(3) When a deposit has been made under sub-section (2), the amount of such deposit shall be held by the Controller pending the removal of the doubt or the settlement of the dispute, which

S.20 Tenant making payment of rent entitled to receipt

(1) Every tenant who makes a payment on account of rent to his landlord shall be entitled to obtain forthwith from the landlord a receipt in the prescribed form for the amount of rent paid by him, duly signed by the landlord or his appointed agent.

(2) If a landlord, without reasonable cause fails to deliver the tenant a receipt, as required by sub-section (1), such landlord shall be liable to fine not exceeding double the amount of rent so paid to be imposed after summary inquiry by the Controller upon a complaint of the party aggrieved within three months from the date of such failure.

S.21 Controller to maintain list of fair rents

(1) The Controller shall maintain up-to-date list showing the fair rents of buildings as determined or re-determined by him from time to time under this Act.

(2) A copy of the list shall remain in the office of the Controller available for inspection free of charge during office hours, and copies of the entries in such list may be granted by the Controller on payment of such charge, not exceeding rupee one per copy, as may be fixed by the Controller.

S.22 Powers of Controller to make enquiries and inspections

(1) For the purpose of any enquiry under this Act the Controller may--

• (a) enter and inspect any building at any time between sunrise and sunset or authorise any officer subordinate to him to so enter and inspect any building :

  Provided that no building shall be entered, without the consent of the occupier, unless at least twenty four hours' previous notice in writing has been given; and

• (b) by written order, require any person to produce for his inspection such accounts, rent receipts, books or other documents relevant to the enquiry; at such time and at such place as may be specified in the order.

(2) The Controller shall, in so far as such powers are necessary for carrying out the provisions of this Act, have power to summon and enforce the attendance of witnesses and to compel the production of documents by the same means and, so far as may be, in the same manner as in provided in the case of a Court by the Code of Civil P

S.23 Execution of Orders of Controller and Commissioner

Every order of the Controller passed under this Act, where no appeal against such order has been preferred under Section 24, every order of the appellate authority on appeal under Section 24 and every order of the Commissioner passed in revision under Section 26 shall be executed by the Court as if such orders were a decree passed by such Court.

S.24 Appeal

(1) Any person aggrieved by an order passed by the Controller may, within fifteen days from the date of receipt of such order by him, prefer an appeal in writing to the appellate authority.

(2) On such appeal being preferred, the appellate authority, may--

• (a) after perusing the memorandum of appeal and hearing the appellant, if necessary, summarily dismiss the appeal, or
• (b) call for the records of the case from the Controller and after examining such records and, if necessary, making such further enquiry as he thinks fit decide the appeal.

(3) Subject to the provisions of Section 26 the decision of the appellate authority and subject only to such decision where an appeal lies, an order of the Controller shall be final, and shall not be liable to be questioned in any Court of law whether in suit or other proceeding by way of appeal or revision.

S.25 Award of costs

In every order passed by the Controller under this Act, and, every order of the Appellate Authority or the Commissioner passed in appeal under Section 24 or in revision under Section 26, as the case may be, the authority passing such order may, if it thinks fit award cost to the person in whose favour the order is passed and the cost so awarded shall include such sum as compensation for the expense, trouble and loss of time incurred in, or incidental to, the hearing of the case as to the authority may deem just and reasonable.

S.26 Power of revision of Commissioner

Subject to such rules as may be prescribed and for reasons to be recorded in writing, the Commissioner may, either of his own motion or on application made to him in this behalf, revise any order passed by the Controller or by the Appellate Authority on appeal under this Act.

S.27 Notice to landlord or tenant by Controller before exercising powers under this Act

Before exercising any of the powers conferred by this Act the Controller shall give notice of his intention to do so to the landlord and to the tenant, if any, and shall consider any application that may be received by him, within the period specified in the notice, from such landlord or tenant or from any other person likely to be affected by the exercise of such powers and shall hear the applicant, if so desired by him.

S.28 Penalties

(1) If any person contravenes any of the provisions of this Act, he shall, except as otherwise provided in Section 20, be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine or with both.

(2) Whoever fails to comply with any direction made or deemed to have been made under this Act shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine or with both:

Provided that the Court trying any offence under this section may order the whole or any part of the fine recovered to be applied to the payment to any person as compensation for any loss caused by the offence.

S.29 Supply of certified copies of orders and decisions of Controller and Commissioner

Any person affected by any order of the Controller or any decision of the Appellate Authority on appeal or any order of the Commissioner in revision made or passed under this Act shall be entitled to be furnished with a copy thereof duly certified by the Controller, the Appellate Authority or the Commissioner as the case may be, to be a true copy on payment of such fee as may be prescribed, and such copy shall be admissible in evidence in any Court of law to prove the order of the Controller, the decision of the Appellate Authority on appeal or the order of the Commissioner in revision, as the case may be.

S.30 Decisions which have become final not to be reopene

The Controller shall summarily reject, any application which raises substantially the same issues as have been heard and finally decided in a former proceeding under this Act between same parties under whom they or any of them claim.

S.31 Protection of action taken under the Act

(1) No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against any person for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of any order made or deemed to have been made under this Act.

(2) No suit or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Government for any damage which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of any order made or deemed to be made under this Act.

S.32 Act not to apply to building owned by Government and Trusts

Nothing contained in this Act shall apply to a tenant whose landlord is the local authority or the State Government or the Central Government or the Bihar State Shwetamber Jain Trust Board or Bihar State Digamber Jain Trust Board or the Wakf which may be under the Bihar State Wakf Boards.

S.33 Power to make Rules

(1) The State Government may make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.

(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing powers such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters namely.--

• (a) the manner of depositing rent under sub-section (2) of Section 19 and the manner of service of notice of such deposit of rent on the landlord;
• (b) the form of receipt on account of payment of rent under this Act;
• (c) charging or remitting of costs and fees under this Act and the fixing of the amount or the scale of such costs and fees;
• (d) the manner of exercising the powers of revision by the Commissioner under Section 26;
• (e) any other matter by this Act required or expressly or impliedly authorised, to be prescribed.

S.34 Repeal and saving

(1) The Bihar Building (Lease, Rent and Eviction) Control Ordinance, 1982 (Bihar Ordinance No. 63, 1982) is hereby repealed.

(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken in exercise of any power conferred by or under the said Ordinance shall be deemed to have been done or taken in exercise of powers conferred by or under this Act as if this Act were in force on the day on which such thing or action was done or taken.