I am running a small business from a rented room at 2, Dent Mission Road, Kidderpore, Calcutta 700 023. I have a record of rent receipts, electric bills and trade licence from 1982. Last year, I came to know that the property has been handed over to a local promoter. Sensing trouble, I submitted an appeal with relevant legal documents to the executive engineer, borough 9, ward no. 77, Calcutta Municipal Corporation, on January 10, 2003, and also marked a copy to the mayor, the mayor-in-council (building), and the commissioner. I did this to prevent the issuance of a demolition order or sanction a new building without giving me a chance of hearing. In spite of my efforts, the promoter has got a new plan sanctioned and has started demolishing the old structure. I have sent letters of appeal to the chief minister’s office. But no one has given me a hearing so far. I do not want to lose my source of income. Please suggest a remedy.

Dilip Kumar Mondal,
Kidderpore,
Calcutta 700023

Your case shows how a law-abiding citizen becomes a victim of the vested interest of officers who serve as public servants. The most important thing to do now is to consult an advocate with all the necessary papers and documents along with your letters of appeal to the authorities concerned. You may move an application under Article 226 of the Constitution before the Calcutta High Court praying for appropriate direction to stop any further demolition/ construction work and to give you an opportunity to be heard in order to place your grievances.

Your present landlord cannot demolish the building, particularly the portion where you are a tenant, without giving you proper notice and/ or without appropriate order under Section 6 of West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act. In any case, your tenancy will be restored under Section 11 of the Act after completion of the work. You may also make an application before the rent controller praying for appropriate direction against the demolition of the building without any notice served upon you.

I had rented a floor with an attached bathroom at no.1, Karim Bux Lane, Calcutta 700 016. The landlord had constructed a building on the same premises and had promised us a room once the building was complete. When that happened, the landlord asked me to occupy the room in the passage, which I refused. I filed a suit against the landlord in 1983. The judge decreed that the building be auctioned as the landlord has not given the room till now. Still, the landlord did not bother. The auction advertisement got published in a Bengali daily but the auction could not take place as the landlord hired a few well-known lawyers and prayed for some more time. I am a middle-class man and could not do anything but wait for justice for the last 21 years. The case is still on and my lawyer has assured that I will get the promised space very soon. The landlord, however, is unrelenting. Please advise.

Zubair Alam,
18, Deedar Bux lane,
Calcutta 700016

You have already filed a suit in 1983 against your landlord. I am in the dark about your contentions in the plaint. Moreover, the learned advocate engaged by you is the best person to tell you what to do. It is against the decorum for any other advocate to advise you. The landlord prayed for some more time, but your learned advocate has assured you that you will get the room promised to you very soon. He must have taken the appropriate steps in accordance with law. Delay is a common factor in our judicial system. You may, however, make an application for an early disposal of your case if so advised by your learned advocate.

I have been living in a rented house since 1993. My landlady lives in UK with her family and is my distant relative. I had started residing in the house merely on the basis of verbal negotiations. This means there is no agreement in black and white between the two parties. I paid the rent to her sister every month till December 2000. The rent has been increased from time to time in these eight years but no rent receipt was ever issued by the landlady or her sister. In January 2001, the landlady came to India and tried selling off her house without informing me. When I expressed my desire to stay on she consulted a lawyer and made an agreement with me. Since January 2001 I have been paying the rent through a bank and I have all the receipts with me including the ones on electric charge and municipal tax. It was given in the agreement that she would issue receipts against the rent twice a year but till now she has not done so. I want to reside in this house for a few more years. Can the landlady evict me forcibly?

Suddhasattwa Mahanta,
B-10/87, Kalyani,
Nadia 741235

There is a specific agreement between you and your landlady. Without going through the said agreement it is difficult to advise you. Now you should pay rent by A/C payee cheques from your bank account and deposit the same in her account as per the agreement. Send a letter in the form of a notice to your landlady, with an acknowledgement receipt, stating clearly that you had deposited the rents upto date as per the contract and demand from her proper receipts for the same. According to Section 4 (1) of the West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act, the landlord or his authorised agent shall issue a written receipt in prescribed form on receipt of the amount of rent. If the landlady refuses to deliver you such receipt then you may make an application before the controller, within two months from the date of payment, for damages under Section 32 of the Act. Your landlady cannot evict you by force but she will have to take proper course in accordance with Section 6 of the Act. She is to make an application before the controller on proper grounds when you will get enough opportunity to contest.

Many of our members are being harassed by their landlords for increasing the rent and various other charges for commercial premises: Kindly advise us on the following matters:

a) What is the criteria for increasing rent for commercial premises?

b) Is the payment of maintenance compulsory? If so, then how much?

c) The landlords are demanding 50 per cent of the rent as the tenants’ share of municipal taxes. They have neither produced any document to support their demand nor given any copy of the consolidated bill of municipal taxes paid by them every quarter. What should be the tenants’ share?

d) They are also demanding commercial surcharge at 30 per cent. Is this justified?

Secretary,
The Old China Bazar and B.R.B Bose Road Merchants’ Association,
Calcutta 700001

Fixation of fair rent for premises used for commercial purposes is detailed in Sections 17 (4A) and (4B) of the West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act. Where tenancy subsists for 20 years or more, fair rent shall be determined by adding to the rent as on July 1, 1976, five times or by accepting the existing rent if the sum be more than the increased rent. Where the tenancy subsists for 10 years or more (but less than 20 years), the fair rent shall be determined by adding to the rent as on July 1, 1986, three time or by accepting the existing rent if it comes to more than the hiked rent.

Section 5 (7) of the Act states that the tenant shall pay maintenance charges at the rate of 10 per cent of the fair rent or the agreed rent.

Section 5 (8) of the Act states that every tenant shall pay his share of municipal tax as an occupant in accordance with the provisions of the KMC Act. You should contact the corporation office to find out how much a tenant should pay as his share.

The tenants may make an application before the controller for fixation of fair rent in accordance with the provisions of the Act.