Supreme Court Seeks Update on Tenant’s Readiness to Clear Long-Pending Rent Arrears.


10 October 2025
The Supreme Court of India, on October 10, 2025, was worried about repeated default in payment of rent in a long pending tenancy case dating back to 2020 and allowed time to the counsel for the tenant to obtain instructions on their client's willingness to pay the arrears. The case was listed for hearing again on October 15, 2025.

The matter, P.U. Siddique & Others v. Zakariya (SLP (Civil) Nos. 22696–22697 of 2025), was heard by a bench led by Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Manmohan. The petitions were sequel to judgments passed in two rent revision cases relating to two houses rented out by the petitioners to the respondent.


 

 

As per the record, the tenant had been in arrears since January and February 2020 for the respective properties. The landlords had brought a civil action for recovery of rent, which was decreed on March 31, 2023, for a total of Rs. 26,44,641 due up to that point. Though the tenant had appealed, there was no stay on the decree.

In parallel proceedings, the landlords sought eviction under the Kerala Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1965, for non-payment of rent. The Rent Controller allowed the eviction on November 7, 2024, citing default in payment of admitted rent. The tenant challenged the order before the appellate authority, which required compliance with the Rent Controller’s directive before proceeding with the appeal.

But in revision, the Kerala High Court allowed that condition to be overridden, instructing the appellate authority to admit the appeal of the tenant on a non-compliance-free basis. The High Court also allowed liberty to the landlords to move the appellate court under Section 12(1) of the Act for a deposit order.

Before the Supreme Court, the lawyer for the tenant argued that the appellate authority was bound under Section 12(1) to grant four weeks for arrear payment while in the present case the order dated March 11, 2025, granted merely four days. The Court observed, though, that over six months had passed since the order and no payment had been made.

Noting the long default, the court adjourned the case to allow the tenant's lawyer to receive express instructions on whether the tenant was presently willing and able to pay the due rent as instructed by the Rent Controller.

The Court's strategy is an indication of its desire to provide for enforcement of the statutory requirement to pay rent pending litigation while giving the tenant a last chance to regularize the arrears prior to further action.