Beware landlords! Not verifying tenant can land you in legal trouble
A Delhi court has convicted a landlord for failing to get the police verification done of his tenant who had been living in the house for the past four years.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Jitendra Singh said that nothing substantial in the favour of the accused has came on record despite all the parties being cross examined.
"Prosecution has succeeded in proving the offence punishable under section 188 IPC (Indian Penal Code) against the accused beyond reasonable doubt. Hence, accused is hereby convicted for said offence," the court said Monday.
It further said that the prosecution has successfully brought on record that accused had not complied with law and violated the order of concerned Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP) by not submitting the tenant verification form at the police station.
A case was filed under section 188 of the IPC (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) against the landlord, Niranjan Mishra, in January this year.
The complaint was filed by Head Constable Raj Kumar who, while on his patrolling and tenant verification duty, had found that the Mishra had not got the police verification of the tenant, living at his house in Pandav Nagar.
The court said that no previous conviction has been alleged or proved against Mishra.
"Convict is having a family to support. Keeping in view the facts and circumstances of the case and also the fact that the accused belongs to the poor strata of the society, I am of the considered opinion that interest of justice will be met if the convict is admonished," the court said.
Kumar, in his testimony of witness, had said that when he had asked the landlord to produce the documents regarding police verification of the tenant, Mishra had told him that he had not got it done.
"Thereafter I made inquries from tenant Jagdish and he told me that he had been residing in the said house for the last abut four years but his police verification has not been got done," the complainant had said in the testimony.
Mishra had claimed his innocence, saying that he was not aware of the concerned rules.
