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November 28, 2004 

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Your Advocate

Q: I am an Asstt. Professor of a Govt. college in Dhaka. I live with my family of four members and a maid servant in a two-bed- room apartment of a building owned by a retired Customs Inspector. My wife also is working for a Bank in Dhaka. We are somehow jointly running our family here in Dhaka and I have in particular additional recurring expenditures to be made against my parents and one of my college-going sisters living outside Dhaka. So with our small earnings monetary constraint so much occupy our minds and thoughts so that life sometimes seems to have no other meaning but to earn our bread and butter. All the middle and lower middle class families, as I understand, more or less share the similar reality of life in Bangladesh.

Our intolerably repressive world of house-rent and the often unbearable acts, behaviour and attitudes of the landlords have made life more miserable. Attitudinally most of the landlords, sometimes even their servants and employees are yet not shaped up in terms of their true rights and positions. Landlords in many cases, tend to demonstrate a kind of authoritative attitude towards the tenants irrespective of tenants educational, social or other status as against him. Demanding advance for as many months as is wished; increasing house rent every year in total disregard of the increment received by a govt. servant or other service-holders every year; controlling the meters and putting restraint on water supply and stopping water and power lines in case of outbreak of altercations for any reason; unnoticed starting of construction, repair or beautification works on the roof or upstairs causing unbearable noise, dust and annoyance; asking the tenant at will to leave the house within a month in disregard of the suffering and huge expenses of shifting to be taken by a family of modest income. This seems to a bit of feudal sentiment still lingering with those who somehow become owner of a house particularly in Dhaka. I have heard in our neighbouring state particularly in Calcutta the situation is balanced by law rather weighed in favour of the tenant. I am facing much of this soul searing problem

With the backdrop of facts, I feel like asking you few questions with the hope you will kindly reply. The questions are a) can a landlord ask at will his/her tenant to leave the house ? b) can he/she ask advance equal to the rent of six months or so? c) can a landlord control water or gas or electricity meters? d) can he/she cut off the line to create pressure upon the tenant? e) can a landlord ask the tenant to leave the house at will or on false excuses? can the landlord create any nuisance by unnoticed start of construction/repair etc. works to the annoyance of the tenant? Can he/she control or cut of water and/or electricity line to create pressure upon the tenant?
Thank you in anticipation.
-Quazi Sarwar Jahan Dhaka.

Your Advocate: I don't know how much of your mental disquiet may be ameliorated by reference to law but I can assure you that I have realised your state of mind and squarely share the sufferings you and innumerable others of our country are undergoing every passing day.

You have asked a number of questions calling for elaborate legal discourse which does not conform the short space of newspaper columns. For the sake of brevity let me address your problem in a boiled form.

The world of landlord and tenant is not a feel-good world in our country. The humiliation and harassment you have articulated is a suffering-in-common and so well shared by all that the law makers had to introduce a new law entitled- Premises Rent Control Act,1991, in suppression of the earlier Premises Rent Control Ordinance with a view to bringing about a balance in the conflicting interest of landlord and tenant particularly in our urban life. The present law prohibits demanding an advance more than the amount of rent payable for one month without the prior permission of the Rent Controller. Asking to leave the house at will was never permissible under law. In the old as well as new law landlords can only ask the tenant to leave the premises when bona fide requirements like construction, reconstruction, personal use or for the use of any real beneficiary of the house arise.

As for controlling meters and cutting of water, electricity etc. lines as a device of creating pressure upon the tenant, I must say, it does not come within the legal scale of conduct far less civilised scale. I, as a lawyer and a conscious citizen still unaware of any law which permits such a control and application of meters and switch as you have indicated. These practices as I understand, have been developed by the urban house- owners to retain undue control over their tenants.

Finally, the question of starting construction or other works without any courtesy to inform the tenant and thus showing feudal attitude to the detriment of comfort and other civic rights of the tenant. This is unfortunate. There is no law approving such conduct of the housemasters. This is a 'nuisance'' against which relief can well be sought in the appropriate court of law.

Your Advocate M. Moazzam Husain is a lawyer of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. His professional interests include civil law, criminal law and constitutional law.


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