The Supreme Court has drawn a firm line in the sand: a tenant doesn’t become an unlawful occupant the moment an eviction suit is filed—but only once the court says it’s over.
In a ruling that hinges on the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999, the apex court clarified that a landlord-tenant relationship officially ends only when a decree of eviction is passed. Any claim for “mesne profits”—the compensation for unlawful occupancy—must start ticking from that decree date, not before.
A bench comprising Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan stepped in to recalibrate a lower court’s approach that had wrongly backdated the compensation period to the day the eviction suit was filed. The SC ruled that since the tenancy is legally terminated only on the day of the eviction decree, any profits owed for wrongful possession can only accrue from that point onward.
Justice Oka summed it up clearly:
“His possession becomes unlawful when the tenancy ends. That happens when the decree is passed—not before. Mesne profits start from that moment.”
For the uninitiated, mesne profits—as laid out in Section 2(12) of the Civil Procedure Code—are essentially rent’s rebellious cousin: the money owed by someone hanging onto property after their legal right to stay has expired.
In this case, the landlord had already won an eviction order that had reached finality. The tenant had been removed from the property. However, the real debate began after the eviction—when the question arose over how far back the financial damages should stretch.
The trial court had ordered an inquiry into mesne profits starting from the date the suit was filed. The Supreme Court said—not so fast. The correct calculation must begin from March 29, 2014—the day the eviction decree was passed—and continue until the tenant actually handed over the keys.
The takeaway:
In a tenancy under the Rent Act, the clock on unlawful possession doesn’t start ticking until the court officially ends the tenancy. Until then, the occupant is still a tenant—however strained the relationship might be.
