Supreme Court orders house rentThe Supreme Court has said in a landmark order that non-payment of rent by a tenant is a matter of civil dispute and cannot be treated as a criminal case. During the hearing of the petition in this case, the Supreme Court has said that if the tenant does not pay the rent, then a case should not be registered under IPC for this dispute. It is pertinent to note that the Supreme Court in a recent judgment has made this important comment while dismissing the case registered against the tenant.

Neto Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh case

Importantly, this observation of the Supreme Court has come in the case of Neto Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh. The tenant was charged under sections 403 (dishonest use of property) and 415 (fraud) of the IPC. In this case, the Allahabad High Court had refused to grant relief to the petitioner and at the same time dismissed the case outright. The case then went to the Supreme Court.

But legal action can be taken against the tenant.

The Supreme Court has said that legal action can be taken against the tenant in such cases but no case can be registered under IPC. The apex court quashed the FIR and said that non-payment of rent was a matter of civil dispute.

The landlord had filed a case under the IPC.

The landlord had filed a case against the tenant under the provisions of the IPC. Commenting on Justice Sanjeev Khanna and Justice Bella M. Trivedi of the Supreme Court, he said that non-payment of rent was a civil dispute. The Supreme Court has clearly stated that the dispute between the tenant over rent and vacancy should be settled through civil proceedings.