Tenant's Rs 10L deposit claim fails; Delhi HC orders payment for unauthorised stay
The case involved a tenant, who rented a 238.38 sq. ft shop in 2014 from a couple in Delhi. The agreed monthly rent was Rs 25,500. However, the 11-month rent agreement was never registered. The tenant subsequently claimed that he had paid the landlords Rs 10 lakh in cash as a security deposit between November 2016 and March 2017.
In a recent ruling by the Delhi High Court, a tenant's claim of a Rs 10 lakh security deposit has been dismissed. The case involved a 238.38 sq. ft shop rented by the tenant in 2014, with an unregistered monthly rent agreement of Rs 25,500. The tenant claimed to have paid Rs 10 lakh as security deposit between 2016 and 2017, but could not provide any receipts or documentary evidence to support this claim.
The tenant had also signed multiple rent agreements in 2015, 2017, and 2018, but failed to prove that these agreements documented the alleged security deposit arrangement. The court noted that none of these agreements were produced as evidence in his favor. Furthermore, the tenant's own statements weakened his defense as his mother denied that he had ever paid Rs 4.5 lakh, a part of the total security deposit.
The tenant's eviction was ordered by the court after he refused to vacate the premises after the 2018 rent agreement expired in 2019. The tenant claimed he wanted his security deposit returned and admitted to only paying a monthly rent of Rs 2,900, contrary to the landlords' claim of Rs 29,000. The court found that the tenant's occupation of the shop after the tenancy had ended was unauthorized.
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