Another elderly couple resorts to ‘Gandhigiri’ to evict tenant in Greater noida

Greater Noida: Another elderly couple has begun a sit-in at Ace Aspire apartments in Greater Noida (west) to make their tenant vacate the property

Greater Noida: Another elderly couple has begun a sit-in at Ace Aspire apartments in Greater Noida (west) to make their tenant vacate the property. SC Gupta (73) and his wife Lalithesh Gupta (72) alleged that their flat is being illegally occupied by their tenant after the rent agreement expired in March this year.

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The couple read about Sunil Kumar (61) and his wife Rakhi Gupta (55) who camped outside their home in Shri Radha Sky apartments for eight days last week, following which they were able to move in after the tenant finally agreed to vacate.

“We have been running pillar to post but our tenant has refused to vacate the flat. The rent agreement expired in March and we have been practically homeless since the last four months. After we read about the other couple who got access to their flat on Friday, we also decided to start camping here with our belongings on Saturday,” SC Gupta said. The couple’s son lives abroad and bought the flat in 2017. The power of attorney was given to Lalithesh and the flat was put on rent the same year.

Gupta is diabetic and his right hand is paralysed, and his wife is a heart patient. “We were living in Lucknow earlier in a rented accommodation. However, doctors advised us to live in NCR because of better medical facilities. We have left that home to come live in the flat owned by our son but are unable to do so. We do not have anywhere else to go to,” he said .

When asked to respond, their tenant Archana Chaudhary (55) refuted all allegations. “I have asked for time till November 2022 from them as my home in Agra is under renovation. I am not squatting on the property and have been paying my rent on time as well. According to the rent agreement, my lease period will end on April 2023,” she said.

SC Gupta and his wife met the district magistrate on Monday. “The couple has been directed to go to the Additional District Magistrate who is the prescribed rent authority for the district according to the Uttar Pradesh Regulation of Urban Premises Tenancy Act, 2021. They need to submit an application to the ADM along with 7.5% of property rent as fees. The law mandates the ADM to hear both parties, issue notices and pass an order within 60 days. Following this, either parties can approach the district court if they want to appeal the order,” said Suhas LY, district magistrate.

“According to the 2021 tenancy act, all rent agreements will be registered with the rent authority, which is the ADM court. However, the state government has not yet made an online provision for such registrations and disputes are being addressed at the ADM court. Any rental disputes concerning residential or commercial properties in urban areas come under this act. The aggrieved party can submit an application at the ADM court and the judgement will be passed within 60 days,” said Nitin Madan, ADM (administration).

Legal experts said that people are currently not aware of the new tenancy laws. “Earlier, all disputes had to go to civil court for resolution and took a lot of time. With the new act, such cases will be addressed by ADM who will act as the rent authority of the district within 60 days. This law not only protects landlords from squatters, but also tenants from unauthorised evictions or increase in rent,” said Kumar Mihir, advocate on record, Supreme Court of India.

He added that while the act has come into force, its implementation is not uniform. “There are some aspects of the act that are still not implemented in Uttar Pradesh. For example, there is no provision yet to register rent agreements with the rent authority, which is mandated by the law.” he said.

Despite al this, SC Gupta and his wofe re resolute about continuing to protest. “We will continue to sit in protest until the tenant leaves the flat. We have nowhere else to go,” he said.