Supreme Court bats for expeditious disposal of landlord-tenant disputes

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has expressed concern over the delay in deciding property owners-tenants disputes while hearing a case stemming from the Bombay High Court.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Manoj Misra, therefore, "requested" the Bombay High Court chief justice to examine the pendency of such cases there.

The apex court was hearing appeals against an order of the high court relating to a dispute on "per square foot rate" at which the mesne profit was to be calculated in relation to Hindustan Organic Chemicals Ltd's occupation as tenant of "Harchandrai House" in Mumbai.

Mesne profit is money owed to a rightful owner of property by someone who wrongfully possessed it.

The bench said litigants in some cases had to wait for years for their disputes to be resolved by judicial fora.

"When it comes to landlord-tenant disputes, there is an angle of being deprived of the enjoyment of the property and also the monetary benefits that accrue from owning such property. The courts, being the courts of law and justice, are duty-bound to ensure that on their account, no party is made to suffer," the bench said.

In such disputes, the top court underlined, a delayed adjudication meant both parties bearing the brunt. "The landlord suffers on account of not receiving, in some cases, the property itself, and in other cases, the monetary dues therefrom. And the tenant suffers on account of being directed to pay large sums of money within a short period of time when the matter is finally decreed," it added.

The top court said making requisite arrangements to pay such hefty amounts by the tenants was an arduous task.

"We request the Chief Justice, High Court of Judicature at Bombay, to take up this issue and call for a report from the concerned courts regarding the period of pendency in landlord-tenant disputes," the bench said on May 6.

If it was found there were several such cases akin to the one at hand, the high court should take "appropriate steps" for their expeditious disposal, it added.