🏠 Is Your Tenant Refusing to Vacate After Expiry of the Lease?
❓ The lease period has ended.
❓ The tenant continues to occupy the property.
❓ No fresh lease agreement has been executed.
❓ You have accepted rent after expiry of the lease.
Does that mean you have automatically agreed to continue the tenancy?
⚖️ Not necessarily.
The Calcutta High Court in Sri Bimal Kumar Ghosh v. Indian Overseas Bank held that mere acceptance of rent after expiry of a lease does not by itself create a tenancy by holding over under Section 116 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882.
For a tenancy by holding over to arise, there must be assent of the landlord to the continued occupation.
A tenant who remains in possession after expiry of the lease without such assent may merely be a tenant at sufferance and can be liable for eviction and mesne profits.
📌 Acceptance of rent alone is not enough. The landlord’s intention and consent are crucial.
#PropertyLaw #LeaseAgreement #LandlordRights #TenantDisputes #TransferOfPropertyAct #MesneProfits #LegalUpdate #Advocate