A Hyderabad man says he received a notice from the secretary of his residential society for bringing a “female colleague” to his apartment. The man, a tenant in the apartment, shared a picture of the notice on Reddit, where it has ignited a discussion on laws and fundamental rights.
He said he was dumbfounded by the notice as he and his colleague did not play loud music or disturb their neighbours in any way.
The Reddit post
“Invited my female colleague over at my apartment for couple of times in last month for snacks, tea and dinner and got this notice from the secretary of the apartment,” the Hyderabad tenant said in his Reddit post. “No disturbance to anyone, no loud music etc. Don't know what to even say.”
He attached a picture of the notice he received. In the notice, the apartment secretary warned him to refrain from repeating the offense or he could be asked to vacate the apartment.
What the notice said
Read the full text of the warning below:
To [redacted] Apartments Residents
{{/usCountry}}To [redacted] Apartments Residents
{{/usCountry}}Dear Residents Greeting of the Day,
This is to bring to your kind notice that we got a few complaints in our apartment residents from last 1 month that some residents are allowing female collogues to their flats in weekends/ weekdays , this is violating the apartment rules and regulations. The Apartments owners will not accept these type of mistakes from their tenants , and if the same mistakes may repeat in future they will inform those tenants to vacate their flats immediately.
Hope you will understand the situation and kindly extend your valuable cooperation.
Reddit advises
Some Reddit users advised the tenant to fight back.
“Write back and ask for an attested copy of the said rules and regulations, along with the minutes of the meeting where such rules and regulations were adopted. Additionally ask if the society bylaws/rules/regulations can override fundamental rights,” suggested one person.
“Unless this is clearly mentioned in the rental agreement, restricting adult visitors sounds legally questionable,” another said.
Some said they had faced similar instances of discrimination. “We have chosen to stay out of large gated communities for similar reasons. We found a standalone apartment with 20 flats. All of them are mostly bachelor occupied. Have been in peace from last 3 years,” a user wrote.
(Also read: After bachelors and pets, Bengaluru landlords say no to paan-chewing tenants)