Courtesy: Rupsha Mukherjee
In Uttar Pradesh, excessive delay before Rent Authorities has been an obstacle in rent disputes for a long time. To remedy this, the State enacted the Uttar Pradesh Regulation of Urban Premises Tenancy Act, 2021, which received the Governor’s assent following the Uttar Pradesh Regulation of Urban Premises Tenancy Ordinance, 2021 and the Uttar Pradesh Regulation of Urban Premises Tenancy (Second) Ordinance, 2021, and the new law repeals the Uttar Pradesh Urban Buildings (Regulation of Letting, Rent and Eviction) Act, 1972 in respect of premises to which the new Act applies. The Act of 2021 itself stipulates time-bound adjudication, but more often than not, statutory timelines are breached, and litigants remain helpless. In such a case, the petitioner can seek remedy from the Hon’ble Allahabad High Court.
What are the legal provisions for Expeditious Disposal of Rent Matters under the newly enacted Act?
The Uttar Pradesh Regulation of Urban Premises Tenancy Act, 2021 provides for more detailed discussion of the legal provisions for the expeditious disposal of rent matters. The intention of the Uttar Pradesh Regulation of Urban Premises Tenancy Act, 2021 is clear from Section 31 of the Act, that the State Legislature intends to move towards adoption of alternative mechanisms for dispute resolution. This provision is meant to resolve tenancy disputes faster and with less friction than a contested hearing.
Where negotiation fails, and the matter proceeds to adjudication, Section 33(2) fixes the outer time limit within which it must be decided. The provision reads:
“The Rent Authority or Rent Tribunal, as the case may be, shall endeavour to dispose the case as expeditiously as possible, not exceeding a period of more than sixty days from the date of receipt of the application or appeal.
Provided that where any such application or appeal, as the case may be, could not be disposed of within the said period of sixty days, the Rent Authority or Rent Tribunal, as the case may be, shall record its reason in writing for not disposing of the application or appeal within that period.”
In its applicability, this provision creates a limitation of time vis-a-vis sixty days, not a directory guideline. If that period is exceeded, the adjudicating authority is not free to simply let the matter drift; it is obliged to record reasons in writing explaining the delay. A failure to decide within sixty days or record reasons for not doing so amounts to a breach of the statutory obligation imposed by the Act, and it is this breach that grounds a litigant’s remedy before the High Court.
An order of the Rent Authority is appealable before the Rent Tribunal under Section 35 of the Act, subject to a mandatory pre-deposit of fifty per cent of the amount payable under the impugned order, with the appeal itself required to be disposed of within sixty days of service of notice. Where the complaint is that the Rent Authority or Rent Tribunal has failed to decide the matter at all within the time the statute allows, no appeal lies against inaction, and the litigant is left without an effective alternative except the supervisory jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 227 of the Constitution of India. The Limitation Act, 1963 also applies to proceedings under the Act by virtue of Section 41, which extends Sections 4, 5 and 12 of the Limitation Act, 1963.
In Ravindra Kumar vs Rent Authority/Additional District Magistrate (City), Ghaziabad and Another, Writ-A No. 19650 of 2025 the Hon’ble Allahabad High Court decided the question of whether an order passed by the Rent Tribunal under Section 35 of the U.P. Act can be challenged under Article 226 or Article 227 of the Constitution of India. Examining the entire scheme of the Act, the Court held that the Rent Tribunal, presided over by the District Judge or an Additional District Judge, functions as a civil court and not as a persona designata, so its orders are judicial orders amenable only to the supervisory jurisdiction under Article 227 of the Constitution of India. Relying on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Radhey Shyam v. Chhabi Nath, (2015) 5 SCC 423, the Court reaffirmed that judicial orders of the civil court are not amenable to writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution. This judgment is the governing authority on which constitutional remedy Article 226 or 227 a litigant must invoke against orders of the Rent Authority and Rent Tribunal under the U.P. Act.
In Shri Shree Chand Jain vs Rent Tribunal, 13th ADJ Agra and Others, reported at (2024) 5 ILRA 853, the Allahabad High Court dealt directly with delay before the Rent Tribunal under the U.P. Act. The Court held that applications and appeals have to be decided within a maximum period of sixty days from the date of filing, and where this is not done, reasons must be recorded in writing. The Court accordingly directed the Rent Tribunal and Rent Authority to strictly comply with the sixty-day timelines under Sections 33(2) and 35(2) of the Act, and directed that its order be circulated to every Rent Authority and Rent Tribunal in the State for compliance.
What is the remedy available before the Hon’ble Allahabad High Court to expedite a case pending adjudication before the rent authority or the rent tribunal?
If a Rent Application or Rent Appeal filed under the Uttar Pradesh Regulation of Urban Premises Tenancy Act, 2021 is pending before the Rent Authority or Rent Tribunal for more than sixty days as prescribed under Section 33(2) and 35(2) of the Act and the Rent Authority or Rent Tribunal has not yet disposed of the matter or given any written reasons for failing to do so, the aggrieved party may invoke the supervisory jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 227 of the Constitution of India.. The petitioner may seek a direction for expeditious disposal of the pending proceedings, preferably within two months from the date of the High Court’s order or within such period as the Court may deem fit, without the High Court entering into the merits of the dispute.
To read on the remedies against the orders passed under the new legislation, regarding which the Allahabad High Court has adjudicated the issue in recent judgments, you may click on the following link – https://nikhilkumaradvocate.in/allahabad-high-court-on-challenging-orders-passed-by-the-rent-tribunal/