A Delhi court has observed that landlords cannot refuse to take possession of a property after the lease is terminated, even if it is damaged or not restored to its original condition.
District judge Vineeta Goyal of the Patiala House Courts was hearing a lawsuit filed against Devyani International Ltd seeking recovery of over Rs 1 crore along with interest.
Referring to a previous verdict by the Delhi High Court in the H.S. Bedi vs National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) case, Goyal said that if landlords fail to accept unconditional possession from the tenant, they cannot later sue for rent recovery after the tenant vacates the property.
The court reiterated that if the landlord refuses to accept the possession offered by the tenant, it will be deemed that the possession has been delivered to the landlord.
The landlord claimed that the tenant had failed to pay rent in a timely manner and occupied the property without payment.
To which, the tenant argued that he had given proper notice of termination and vacated the premises accordingly and had also offered the keys to the landlord, who refused to accept them and take back possession, citing unpaid rent and damage to property.
The landlord contended that the property was damaged and sought to recover arrears of rent.
After reviewing the evidence, including excerpts from a WhatsApp conversation between the parties, the court found no evidence to support the landlord’s claim and concluded that the lease had been terminated when the tenant offered possession to the landlord, who chose not to accept it.
Therefore, the possession of the property was deemed to have been delivered to the landlord.
However, the court ruled that the landlord was entitled to rent payments for the period when the tenant was still occupying the premises, from April 2020 to October 2020, after adjusting a security deposit paid earlier by the tenant.
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