13. Protection of a tenant against eviction.—(1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary
contained in any other law or any contract, no decree or order for the recovery of possession of any
premises shall be passed by any court in favour of the landlord against any tenant (including a tenant
whose tenancy is terminated):
Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall apply to any suit or other proceeding for such recovery
of possession if the court is satisfied—
(a) that the tenant has neither paid nor tendered the whole of the arrears of rent due within one
month of the date on which a notice of demand for the arrears of rent has been served on him by the
landlord in the manner provided in section 106 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 (4 of 1882); or
(b) that the tenant without obtaining the consent of the landlord in writing has, after the
commencement of this Act,—
(i) sub-let, assigned or otherwise parted with the possession of, the whole or any part of
the premises; or
(ii) used the premises for a purpose other than that for which they were let; or
(c) that the tenant, without obtaining the consent of the landlord had, before the commencement
of this Act,—
(i) sub-let, assigned or otherwise parted with the possession of, the whole or any part of the
premises; or
(ii) used the premises for a purpose other than that for which they were let; or
(d) that the premises were let for use as a residence and neither the tenant nor any member of his
family has been residing therein for a period of six months immediately before the date of the
institution of any suit or proceeding for recovery of possession; or
(e) that the premises let for residential purposes are required bona fide by the landlord who is the
owner of such premises for occupation as a residence for himself or his family and that he has no
other suitable accommodation:
Explanation.—For the purposes of this clause, “residential premises” include any premises which
having been let for use as a residence are, without the consent of the landlord, used incidentally for
commercial or other purposes; or
(f) that the premises have become unsafe or unfit for human habitation and are bona fide required
by the landlord for carrying out repairs which cannot be carried out without the premises being
vacated; or
(g) that the premises are bona fide required by the landlord for the purpose of re-building the
premises or for the replacement of the premises by any building or for the erection of other buildings
and that such building or re-building cannot be carried out without the premises being vacated; or
(h) that the tenant has, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, built, acquired
vacant possession of, or been allotted, a suitable residence; or
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(i) that the premises were let to the tenant for use as a residence by reason of his being in the
service or employment of the landlord, and that the tenant has ceased, whether before or after the
commencement of this Act, to be in such service or employment; or
(j) that the conduct of the tenant is such that it is a nuisance or that it causes annoyance to the
occupiers of the neighbouring premises or other occupiers of the same premises; or
(k) that the tenant has, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, caused or permitted
to be caused substantial damage to the premises, or notwithstanding previous notice has used or dealt
with the premises in a manner contrary to any condition imposed on the landlord by the Government
or the Delhi Improvement Trust while giving him a lease of the land on which the premises are
situated; or
(l) that the landlord requires the premises in order to carry out any building work at the instance
of the Government or the Delhi Improvement Trust in pursuance of any improvement scheme or
development scheme.
(2) No decree or order for recovery of possession shall be passed on the ground specified in clause (a)
of the proviso to sub-section (1), if, on the first day of the hearing of the suit or within such further time
as may be allowed by the court, the tenant pays in court the arrears of rent then due together with the
costs of the suit.
(3) For the purposes of clause (b) or clause (c) of the proviso to sub-section (1), a court may presume
that the premises let for use as a residence were or are sub-let by a tenant in whole or in part to another
person, if it is satisfied that such person not being a servant of the tenant or a member of the family of
such servant was or has been residing in the premises or any part thereof for a period exceeding one
month otherwise than in commonality with the tenant.
(4) Where a decree for recovery of possession is passed on the grounds specified in clause (e) of the
proviso to sub-section (1), the landlord shall not be entitled to obtain possession of the premises by an
order of the court before the expiration of a period of three months from the date of the decree.
(5) If the tenant contests the suit as regards the claim for ejectment, the plaintiff-landlord may make
an application at any stage of the suit for an order on the tenant-defendant to deposit month by month rent
at a rate at which it was last paid and also the arrears of rent, if any, and the court, after giving an
opportunity to the parties to be heard, may make an order for the deposit of rent at such rate month by
month as it thinks fit and the arrears of rent, if any, and on the failure of the tenant to deposit the arrears
of rent within fifteen days of the date of the order or to deposit the rent at such rate for any month by the
15th of the next following month, the court shall order the defence against ejectment to be struck out and
the tenant to be placed in the same position as if he had not defended the claim to ejectment; and the
landlord may withdraw the amount of money in deposit without prejudice to his claim to any decree or
order for recovery of possession of the premises.
(6) For avoidance of doubts it is hereby declared that nothing in this section shall apply to any decree
or order for recovery of possession of any premises passed before the commencement of this Act.
14. Recovery of possession for occupation and re-entry.—Where a landlord recovers possession of
any premises from the tenant by virtue of any decree or order made on the grounds specified in clause (e)
of the proviso to sub-section (1) of section 13 and the premises are not occupied by the landlord as a
residence for himself or his family within two months of obtaining such possession or the premises
having been so occupied, are, at any time within eight months of such occupation, re-let in whole or in
part to any person other than the evicted tenant, the court may, on the application of such evicted tenant,
place him in vacant possession of the premises and award such damages to him as it thinks fit against the
landlord.
15. Recovery of possession for repairs and re-building and re-entry.—(1) The court shall, when
passing any decree or order on the grounds specified in clause (f) or clause (g) of the proviso to
sub-section (1) of section 13, ascertain from the tenant whether he elects to be placed in occupation of the
premises or part thereof from which he is to be evicted and if the tenant so elects, shall record the fact of
the election in the decree or order and specify therein the date on or before which he shall deliver
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possession so as to enable the landlord to commence the work of repairs or building or re-building, as the
case may be.
(2) If the tenant delivers possession on or before the date specified in the decree or order, the landlord
shall, on the completion of the work of repairs or building or re-building place the tenant in occupation of
the premises or part thereof.
(3) If, after the tenant has delivered possession on or before the date specified in the decree or order,
the landlord fails to commence the work of repairs or building or re-building within one month of the
specified date or fails to complete the work in a reasonable time or having completed the work, fails to
place the tenant in occupation of the premises in accordance with sub-section (2), the court may, on the
application of the tenant made within one year from the specified date, order the landlord to place the
tenant in occupation of the premises or part thereof on the original terms and conditions or to pay to such
tenant such compensation as may be fixed by the court.
16. Recovery of possession in case of tenancies for limited period.—Where a landlord does not
require the whole or any part of any premises for a particular period and he lets the premises or part
thereof as a residence for such period as may be agreed to in writing between himself and the tenant and
the tenant does not, on the expiry of the said period, vacate such premises, the court may, on an
application of such landlord, place him in vacant possession of the premises or part thereof by evicting
the tenant and every other person who may be in occupation of such premises.
17. Special provision for recovery of possession in certain cases.—Where the landlord in respect
of any premises is any company or other body corporate or any local authority, or any public institution
and the premises are required for the use of employees of such landlord or in the case of a public
institution, for the furtherance of its activities then, notwithstanding anything contained in section 13, the
court may, on an application of such landlord, place him in vacant possession of such premises by
evicting the tenant and every other person who may be in occupation thereof, if the court is satisfied—
(a) that the tenant, to whom such premises were let for use as a residence at a time when he was
in the service or employment of the landlord, has ceased to be in such service or employment; or
(b) that the tenant has acted in contravention of the terms, express or implied, under which he was
authorised to occupy such premises; or
(c) that any person is in unauthorised occupation of such premises; or
(d) that the premises are bona fide required by the public institution or the furtherance of its
activities.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, public institution includes any educational institution,
library, hospital and charitable dispensary.
18. Permission to construct additional structures.—Where the landlord proposes to make any
improvement in, or construct any additional structure on, any building which has been let to a tenant and
the tenant refuses to allow the landlord to make such improvement or construct such additional structure,
the landlord may apply to the court and the court may, if it is satisfied that the landlord is ready and
willing to commence the work and that such work will not cause any undue hardship to the tenant, permit
the landlord to do such work and may make such other orders as it thinks fit in the circumstances of the
case.
19. Special provision regarding vacant building sites.—(1) The provisions of this section shall
apply notwithstanding anything contained in section 13, but only in relation to premises in such areas as
the Central Government may, from time to time, specify by notification in the Official Gazette.
(2) Where any premises which have been let comprise vacant grounds upon which it is permissible
under the building regulations or other municipal bye-laws for the time being in force to erect any
building, whether for use as a residence or any other purpose and the landlord proposing to erect such
building is unable to obtain possession of these grounds from the tenant by agreement with him, the
landlord may apply to the court, and the court may, if it is satisfied that the landlord is ready and willing
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to commence the work and that the severance of the vacant grounds from the rest of the premises will not
cause undue hardship to the tenant,—
(a) direct such severance,
(b) place the landlord in possession of the vacant grounds,
(c) determine the rent payable by the tenant thereafter in respect of the rest of the premises, and
(d) make such other orders as it thinks fit in the circumstances of the case.
20. Sub-tenant to become tenant on determination of tenancy.—Where the interest of a tenant of
any premises is determined for any reason, any sub-tenant to whom the whole or any part of such
premises has been lawfully sub-let whether before or after the commencement of this Act shall, subject to
the provisions of this Act, be deemed to become the tenant of the landlord on the same terms and
conditions on which he would have held from the tenant if the tenancy had continued.
21. Vacant possession to the landlord.—Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law,
where the interest of a tenant in any premises is determined for any reason whatsoever and any decree or
order is passed by a court under this Act for the recovery of possession of such premises, the decree or
order shall, subject to the provisions of section 20, be binding on all persons who may be in occupation of
the premises and vacant possession thereof shall be given to the landlord by evicting all such persons
therefrom:
Provided that nothing in this section shall apply to any person who has an independent title to such
premises.