Farmer not to be evicted after expiry of lease period : SC

Three judges bench of the Supreme Court headed by a three-judge bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi set aside the judgement of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which had ordered the eviction of a farmer after expiry of the lease period of the land, and has held that a farmer, who is in possession of leased land even after expiry of the lease period, cannot be evicted if the owner either acknowledges the tenancy or is accepting the rent, i.e, if the the tenant is receiving the rent or acknowledging the tenancy his consent is then implied.
Referring to a provision of sec 116 of the Transfer of Property Act, which states that If a lessee or under-lessee of property remains in possession thereof after the determination of the lease granted to the lessee, and the lessor or his legal representative accepts rent from the lessee or under-lessee, or otherwise assents to his continuing in possession, the lease is, in the absence of an agreement to the contrary, renewed from year to year, or from month to month, according to the purpose for which the property is leased, as specified in section 106.
Justices Arun Mishra and P C Pant, said.
“The operation of section 116 of the Transfer of Property Act would confer legitimacy to the possession of the tenant even after the termination or expiration of the deemed period of the lease so as to confer on him a status akin to that of a statutory tenant and hence protection from eviction as envisaged by the provisions of the Act (Punjab Security of Land Tenure Act) of 1953,” The bench said that there was no legal provision to evict the farmers as the eviction conditions laid down in the Punjab Security of Land Tenure Act 1953 and Punjab Tenancy Act 1887 do not include a tenant whose lease has expired.
“It would be very obvious that to be entitled to protection from eviction under the 1953 Act, any person claiming such protection has to fall within the fold of the expression ‘tenant’ under the 1953 Act read with the relevant provisions of the 1887 Act.
“Statutory protection would be available only to a statutory tenant, namely a tenant under the Act. The Punjab Act of 1953 read with the relevant provisions of the 1887 Act do not include a tenant whose lease has expired,” the bench noted in its judgment.
The apex court said the continuance of occupancy even after expiry of deemed period of the lease under the Transfer of Property Act “would clothe the occupant with the status of a tenant under the Act in view of section 116 of the Transfer of Property Act which deals with the consequences of holding over.
BY: PRIYANKA GANGWAR