Tenants can’t use Religious Premises Act as shield: Punjab and Haryana High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that tenants of religious and charitable institutions cannot resist eviction petitions under the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949, by taking shelter under the Punjab Religious Premises and Land (Eviction and Rent Recovery) Act, 1997.

Dismissing a revision petition, Justice Vikas Bahl’s Bench made it clear that the 1997 enactment was only an additional remedy for landlords against unauthorised occupants and not a privilege that tenants could claim to avoid eviction under the Rent Act.

“The later Act is a facilitative enactment for the benefit of the landlord against unauthorised occupants and it is not a piece of legislation granting any privilege to a tenant to plead that the action for ejectment must be made only under the later Act,” Justice Bahl observed.

Going into the technical aspect of the matter, the Bench asserted the benefit which a landlord could claim by approaching the authority under the provisions of the Religious Premises Act was not for the tenant.

“If the landlord choses to forfeit his right and takes action for eviction only under the Rent Act, treating the tenant as a statutory tenant entitled to be protected, the tenant cannot contend that he is not a tenant, but only an unauthorised occupant.”