105. Lease defined.—A lease of immoveable property is a transfer of a right to enjoy such property,
made for a certain time, express or implied, or in perpetuity, in consideration of a price paid or promised,
or of money, a share of crops, service or any other thing of value, to be rendered periodically or on
specified occasions to the transferor by the transferee, who accepts the transfer on such terms.
Lessor, lessee, premium and rent defined.—The transferor is called the lessor, the transferee is
called the lessee, the price is called the premium, and the money, share, service or other thing to be so
rendered is called the rent.
1. Subs. by Act 20 of 1929, s. 52, for certain words.
2. Ins. by s. 52, ibid.
3. Subs. by Act 20 of 1929, s. 52, for certain words.
4. Subs. by s. 52, ibid., for “in such Court as last aforesaid”.
5. Ins. by s. 53, ibid.
6. Subs. by s. 53, ibid., for “Chapter XXXI of the Code of Civil Procedure”.
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1
[106. Duration of certain leases in absence of written contract or local usage.—(1) In the
absence of a contract or local law or usage to the contrary, a lease of immovable property for agricultural
or manufacturing purposes shall be deemed to be a lease from year to year, terminable, on the part of
either lessor or lessee, by six months’ notice; and a lease of immovable property for any other purpose
shall be deemed to be a lease from month to month, terminable, on the part of either lessor or lessee, by
fifteen days’ notice.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, the period
mentioned in sub-section (1) shall commence from the date of receipt of notice.
(3) A notice under sub-section (1) shall not be deemed to be invalid merely because the period
mentioned therein falls short of the period specified under that sub-section, where a suit or proceeding is
filed after the expiry of the period mentioned in that sub-section.
(4) Every notice under sub-section (1) must be in writing, signed by or on behalf of the person giving
it, and either be sent by post to the party who is intended to be bound by it or be tendered or delivered
personally to such party, or to one of his family or servants at his residence, or (if such tender or delivery
is not practicable) affixed to a conspicuous part of the property.]
107. Leases how made.—A lease of immoveable property from year to year, or for any term
exceeding one year, or reserving a yearly rent, can be made only by a registered instrument.
2
[All other leases of immoveable property may be made either by a registered instrument or by oral
agreement accompanied by delivery of possession.
3
[Where a lease of immoveable property is made by a registered instrument, such
instrument or, where there are more instruments than one, each such instrument shall be
executed by both the lessor and the lessee:]
Provided that the State Government may, 4 *** from time to time, by notification in the
Official Gazette, direct that leases of immoveable property, other than leases from year to year,
or for any term exceeding one year, or reserving a yearly rent, or any class of such leases, may
be made by unregistered instrument or by oral agreement without delivery of possession.]
108. Rights and liabilities of lessor and lessee.— In the absence of a contract or local
usage to the contrary, the lessor and the lessee of immoveable property, as against one another,
respectively, possess the rights and are subject to the liabilities mentioned in the rules next
following, or such of them as are applicable to the property leased:—
(A) Rights and liabilities of the lessor
(a) the lessor is bound to disclose to the lessee any material defect in the property, with reference
to its intended use, of which the former is and the latter is not aware, and which the latter could not
with ordinary care discover:
(b) the lessor is bound on the lessee’s request to put him in possession of the property:
(c) the lessor shall be deemed to contract with the lessee that, if the latter pays the rent
reserved by the lease and performs the contracts binding on the lessee, he may hold the
property during the time limited by the lease without interruption.
The benefit of such contract shall be annexed to and go with the lessee’s interest as such, and may
be enforced by every person in whom that interest is for the whole or any part thereof from time to
time vested;
(B) Rights and Liabilities of the Lessee
(d) if during the continuance of the lease any accession is made to the property, such accession
(subject to the law relating to alluvion for the time being in force) shall be deemed to be comprised in
the lease:
(e) if by fire, tempest or flood, or violence of an army or of a mob, or other irresistible
force, any material part of the property be wholly destroyed or rendered substantially and
1. Subs. by Act 3 of 2003, s. 2, for s. 106 (w.e.f. 31-12-2002).
2. Subs. by Act 6 of 1904, s. 5, for the Second paragraph.
3. Ins. by Act 20 of 1929, s. 55.
4. The words “with the previous sanction of the Governor General in Council” omitted by A. O. 1937.
39
permanently unfit for the purposes for which it was let, the lease shall, at the option of the
lessee, be void:
Provided that, if the injury be occasioned by the wrongful act or default of the lessee,
he shall not be entitled to avail himself of the benefit of this provision:
(f) if the lessor neglects to make, within a reasonable time after notice, any repairs which
he is bound to make to the property, the lessee may make the same himself, and deduct the
expense of such repairs with interest from the rent, or otherwise recover it from the lessor:
(g) if the lessor neglects to make any payment which he is bound to make, and which, if not
made by him, is recoverable from the lessee or against the property, the lessee may make such
payment himself, and deduct it with interest from the rent, or otherwise recover it from the
lessor:
(h) the lessee may 1
[even after the determination of the lease] remove, at any time 2
[whilst he is
in possession of the property leased but not afterwards], all things which he has attached to the earth:
provided he leaves the property in the state in which he received it:
(i) when a lease of uncertain duration determines by any means except the fault of the lessee, he
or his legal representative is entitled to all the crops planted or sown by the lessee and growing upon
the property when the lease determines, and to free ingress and egress to gather and carry them:
(j) the lessee may transfer absolutely or by way of mortgage or sub-lease the whole or any part of
his interest in the property, and any transferee of such interest or part may again transfer it. The lessee
shall not, by reason only of such transfer, cease to be subject to any of the liabilities attaching to the
lease:
nothing in this clause shall be deemed to authorise a tenant having an un-transferable right of
occupancy, the farmer of an estate in respect of which default has been made in paying revenue, or
the lessee of an estate under the management of a Court of Wards, to assign his interest as such
tenant, farmer or lessee:
(k) the lessee is bound to disclose to the lessor any fact as to the nature or extent of the interest
which the lessee is about to take, of which the lessee is, and the lessor is not, aware, and which
materially increases the value of such interest:
(l) the lessee is bound to pay or tender, at the proper time and place, the premium or rent to the
lessor or his agent in this behalf:
(m) the lessee is bound to keep, and on the termination of the lease to restore, the property
in as good condition as it was in at the time when he was put in possession, subj ect only to the
changes caused by reasonable wear and tear or irresistible force, and to allow the lessor and his
agents, at all reasonable times during the term, to enter upon the property and inspect the
condition thereof and give or leave notice of any defect in such condition; and, when such
defect has been caused by any act or default on the part of the lessee, his servants or agents, he
is bound to make it good within three months after such notice has been given or left:
(n) if the lessee becomes aware of any proceeding to recover the property or any part
thereof, or of any encroachment made upon, or any interference with, the lessor’s rights
concerning such property, he is bound to give, with reasonable diligence, notice thereof to the
lessor:
(o) the lessee may use the property and its products (if any) as a person of ordinary prudence
would use them if they were his own; but he must not use, or permit another to use, the property
for a purpose other than that for which it was leased, or fell 1
[or sell] timber, pull down or
damage buildings 1
[belonging to the lessor, or] work mines or quarries not open when the lease
was granted, or commit any other act which is destructive or permanently injurious thereto:
1. Ins. by Act 20 of 1929, s. 56.
2. Subs. by s. 56, ibid., for “during the continuance of the lease”.
40
(p) he must not, without the lessor’s consent, correct on the property any permanent structure,
except for agricultural purposes:
(q) on the determination of the lease, the lessee is bound to put the lessor into possession of the
property.
109. Rights of lessor’s transferee.—If the lessor transfers the property leased, or any part thereof, or
any part of his interest therein, the transferee, in the absence of a contract to the contrary, shall possess all
the rights and, if the lessee so elects, be subject to all the liabilities of the lessor as to the property or part
transferred so long as he is the owner of it; but the lessor shall not, by reason only of such transfer, cease
to be subject to any of the liabilities imposed upon him by the lease, unless the lessee elects to treat the
transferee as the person liable to him:
Provided that the transferee is not entitled to arrears of rent due before the transfer, and that,
if the lessee, not having reason to believe that such transfer has been made, pays rent to the
lessor, the lessee shall not be liable to pay such rent over again to the transferee.
The lessor, the transferee and the lessee may determine what proportion of the premium or
rent reserved by the lease is payable in respect of the part so transferred, and, in case they
disagree, such determination may be made by any Court having jurisdiction to entertain a suit for
the possession of the property leased.
110. Exclusion of day on which term commences.—Where the time limited by a lease of
immoveable property is expressed as commencing from a particular day, in computing that time such
day shall be excluded. Where no day of commencement is named, the time so limited begins from the
making of the lease.
Duration of lease for a year.—Where the time so limited is a year or a number of years, in
the absence of an express agreement to the contrary, the lease shall last during the whole
anniversary of the day from which such time commences.
Option to determine lease.—Where the time so limited is expressed to be terminable before its
expiration, and the lease omits to mention at whose option it is so terminable, the lessee, and not the
lessor, shall have such option.
111. Determination of lease.—A lease of immoveable property determines—
(a) by efflux of the time limited thereby:
(b) where such time is limited conditionally on the happening of some event—by the happening
of such event:
(c) where the interest of the lessor in the property terminates on, or his power to dispose of
the same extends only to, the happening of any event—by the happening of such event:
(d) in case the interests of the lessee and the lessor in the whole of the property become vested at
the same time in one person in the same right:
(e) by express surrender; that is to say, in case the lessee yields up his interest under the lease to
the lessor, by mutual agreement between them:
(f) by implied surrender:
(g) by forfeiture; that is to say, (1) in case the lessee breaks an express condition which provides
that, on breach thereof, the lessor may re-enter 1***; or (2) in case the lessee renounces his character
as such by setting up a title in a third person or by claiming title in himself; 2
[or (3) the lessee is
adjudicated an insolvent and the lease provides that the lessor may re-enter on the happening of such
1. The words “or the lease shall become void” omitted by Act 20 of 1929, s. 57.
2. Ins. by s. 57, ibid.
41
event]; and in 1
[any of these cases] the lessor or his transferee 2
[gives notice in writing to the lessee
of] his intention to determine the lease:
(h) on the expiration of a notice to determine the lease, or to quit, or of intention to quit, the
property leased, duly given by one party to the other.
Illustration to clause (f)
A lessee accepts from his lessor a new lease of the property leased, to take effect during the
continuance of the existing lease. This is an implied surrender of the former lease, and such lease
determines thereupon.
112. Waiver of forfeiture.—A forfeiture under section 111, clause (g) is waived by
acceptance of rent which has become due since the forfeiture, or by distress for such rent, or by
any other act on the part of the lessor showing an intention to treat the lease as subsisting:
Provided that the lessor is aware that the forfeiture has been incurred:
Provided also that, where rent is accepted after the institution of a suit to eject the lessee on the
ground of forfeiture; such acceptance is not a waiver.
113. Waiver of notice to quit.—A notice given under section 111, clause (h), is waived, with the
express or implied consent of the person to whom it is given, by any act on the part of the person giving
it showing an intention to treat the lease as subsisting.
Illustrations
(a) A, the lessor, gives B, the lessee, notice to quit the property leased. The notice expires. B tenders, and A
accepts, rent which has become due in respect of the property since the expiration of the notice. The notice is
waived.
(b) A, the lessor, gives B, the lessee, notice to quit the property leased. The notice expires, and B
remains in possession. A gives to B as lessee a second notice to quit. The first notice is waived.
114. Relief against forfeiture for non-payment of rent.—Where a lease of immoveable
property has determined by forfeiture for non-payment of rent, and the lessor sues to eject the
lessee, if, at the hearing of the suit, the lessee pays or tenders to the lessor the rent in arrear,
together with interest thereon and his full costs of the suit, or gives such security as the Court
thinks sufficient for making such payment within fifteen days, the Court may, in lieu of making a
decree for ejectment, pass an order relieving the lessee against the forfeiture; and thereupon the
lessee shall hold the property leased as if the forfeiture had not occurred.
3
[114A. Relief against forfeiture in certain other cases.—Where a lease of immoveable property
has determined by forfeiture for a breach of an express condition which provides that on breach thereof
the lessor may re-enter, no suit for ejectment shall lie unless and until the lessor has served on the lessee
a notice in writing—
(a) specifying the particular breach complained of; and
(b) if the breach is capable of remedy, requiring the lessee to remedy the breach;
and the lessee fails, within a reasonable time from the date of the service of the notice, to remedy the
breach, if it is capable of remedy.
Nothing in this section shall apply to an express condition against the assigning, underletting, parting with the possession, or disposing, of the property leased, or to an express
condition relating to forfeiture in case of non-payment of rent.]
115. Effect of surrender and forfeiture on under-leases.—The surrender, express or implied,
of a lease of immoveable property does not prejudice an under-lease of the property or any part
thereof previously granted by the lessee, on terms and conditions substantially the same (except as
regards the amount of rent) as those of the original lease; but, unless the surrender is made for the
purpose of obtaining a new lease, the rent payable by, and the contracts binding on, the under-lessee
shall be respectively payable to and enforceable by the lessor.
1. Subs. by Act 20 of 1929, s. 57, for “either case”.
2. Subs. by s. 57, ibid., for “does some act showing”.
3. Ins. by s. 58, ibid.
42
The forfeiture of such a lease annuls all such under-leases, except where such forfeiture has been
procured by the lessor in fraud of the under-lessees, or relief against the forfeiture is granted under
section 114.
116. Effect of holding over.—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.
Illustrations
(a) A lets a house to B for five years. B underlets the house to C at a monthly rent of Rs. 100. The five years
expire, but C continues in possession of the house and pays the rent to A. C's lease is renewed from month to
month.
(b) A lets a farm to B for the life of C. C dies, but B continues in possession with A's assent. B's lease is renewed from
year to year.
117. Exemption of leases for agricultural purposes.—None of the provisions of this
Chapter apply to leases for agricultural purposes, except in so far as the State Government
1 *** may by notification published in the Official Gazette, declare all or any of such
provisions to be so applicable 2
[in the case of all or any such leases], together with, or subject
to, those of the local law, if any, for the time being in force.
Such notification shall not take effect until the expiry of six months from the date of its
publication.