New Delhi:
The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that implementation of the 30-year-old Delhi Rent Act (DRA) of 1995 cannot be done by a judicial order, as the date for notifying the law is a policy decision that must await the socio-economic and administrative environment to be “conducive.”
The Centre was replying to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a lawyer, Shobha Aggarwal, who questioned the dormant law lying in limbo for over three decades without any response from the Centre for notifying it.
In January, the top court had sought the Centre’s reply. Following which, the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in its response said, “The decision to notify the Delhi Rent Act involves balancing the challenging interests of various stakeholders and consideration of various steps and factors, all of which are in the realm of policymaking of the government.”
Calling for “judicial restraint” from the court, the government said in its reply that such an order from the top court may cause serious damage to the principle of separation of powers recognised as a part of the basic structure of the Constitution of India.
The reply submitted in the top court further said that the non-notification of the 1995 Act does not violate any fundamental rights.
It further added that in the absence of the new law, the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958 (old Act), continues to operate and provide a legal framework for landlord-tenant relationships in Delhi, thus providing citizens a statutory remedy.
“The appropriate accountability rests in front of the Parliament. The judiciary ought not to substitute its own judgment for that of the executive regarding the ‘readiness’ of the administrative machinery to enforce the law,” it said.
The Delhi Rent Act received presidential assent on August 23, 1995, but has never been notified. In her petition, lawyer Shobha Aggarwal argued that keeping a law passed by Parliament in abeyance for over 30 years defeats legislative intent, undermines the rule of law and violates citizens’ rights under Articles 14 and 21.
She said the continued enforcement of the “anachronistic” Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958, goes against the Centre’s own tenancy reform policy, especially after the Model Tenancy Act, 2021. The plea sought immediate implementation of the 1995 law with retrospective effect and guidelines to prevent such “legislative paralysis” in the future.
The petition also referred to the Delhi Rent (Amendment) Bill, 1997, which was examined by a parliamentary panel but never passed. In 2004, a Rajya Sabha committee noted that delaying enforcement of the 1995 act had set a poor precedent. A similar plea filed earlier by NGO Common Cause was not entertained by the Supreme Court.
