PRAYAGRAJ: In a landmark decision, the Allahabad High Court has determined that the lack of a written tenancy agreement or failure to provide tenancy details does not prevent the rent authority from exercising its jurisdiction.
The court stated that, under the Uttar Pradesh Regulation of Urban Premises Tenancy Act, 2021, the rent authority is authorized to consider a landlord’s eviction application even if no written agreement exists and the landlord has not submitted tenancy details.
Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal, delivering the judgment on December 16, remarked, “This provision leads to the conclusion that the jurisdiction of the rent authority under the Act of 2021 cannot be limited to cases with written agreements.”
“If the legislature intended to restrict access to the rent authority solely to cases with written agreements or their notifications, then the proviso to sub-section (5) of Section 9 would not exist in the statute,” the court elaborated.
The court emphasized that the legislature’s intent should not be determined from a single provision; consideration must include other sections, the context, subject matter, and the overall purpose of the law.
Moreover, the court highlighted that the state legislature’s deliberate omission of the “fatal consequences” outlined in the Central Model Tenancy Act allows landlords to pursue timely eviction, despite any technical documentation issues. The key issue before the court was whether the rent authority under the UP Act of 2021 could handle applications from landlords when a tenancy agreement was either not executed or, if absent, overseen by the authority.
