Rent Control & Lease

A Rent Control Court (RCC) cannot decide a complex property dispute in a summary trial under the rent control law. This core legal issue forms the foundation of rent control proceedings in India. Under the Kerala Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1965, a Rent Control Court is a specialized forum. It is designed to quickly resolve everyday fights between landlords and tenants.

A tenant who came into possession of a rented property through a rent deed executed by a landlord cannot later turn around and challenge the landlord's title, the Supreme Court observed in Jyoti Sharma v. Vishnu Goyal [2025 INSC 1099].

Under the Kerala Buildings (Lease & Rent Control) Act, 1965, a landlord can seek an intermediate order from the Rent Control Court directing a tenant to deposit all "admitted arrears of rent" under Section 12. This is a powerful summary remedy, but its application hinges on how a court determines what rent is "admitted" without conducting a full trial.

An order under Section 11(2)(b) of the Kerala Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1965 (BRC Act) should specify the period in which the rent fell in arrears till the date of demand notice and the monthly rent payable, says the High Court of Kerala in Thomas Stephen v Fort in Infra Developers Pvt Ltd [MANU/KE/1521/2017].

The Full Bench judgment of the Kerala High Court in Parthakumar v Ajith Viswanathan [2006 (2) KLT 250, held that existence of landlord-tenant relationship is inevitable for the special tribunal (Rent Control Court) to exercise its jurisdiction.

The tenants seeking an injunction against eviction as relie, must first ensure that rent is paid up to date, thereby upholding the principle "he who seeks equity must do equity”, states the Kerala High Court in Pramod v The Secretary, The Sultanpet Diocese Society & Another [2024 KER 71174].

A tenant cannot contest an application filed by the landlord in the Rent Control Court (RCC) for eviction, under Section 11 of the Kerala Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1965 (1965 Act) unless the admitted arrears of rent are cleared, says the High Court of Kerala in Thazheveettil Naushan & Others v Elizabeth Reggive.