Bharatia under West Bengal Thika Tenancy (Acquisition and Regulation) Act, 2001 is different from premises Tenant –
“Bharatia” means any person by whom or on whose account, rent is payable to [for any structure including pucca structure, if any, or part thereof,] owned by a Thika tenant, but excludes any person paying rent to a Bharatia and any [resident of any structure including pucca structure, if any,] forfeited by the State Government under sub-section (2) of section 6, irrespective of the status, the said person may have enjoyed earlier;
8. Incidents for tenancies of Bharatias
The monthly and other periodical tenancies of Bharatias in respect of the structures occupied by them on payment of rents to the thika tenants shall, with effect from the date of coming into force of this Act, be governed by the provisions of [the West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act, 1997 (West Bengal Act No. 37 of 1997)], in matters relating to the payment of rent by the Bharatias and their eviction by the thika tenants, the owners of the structures shall be deemed to be landlords and the Bharatias shall be deemed to be tenants under the said Act.
(2) If any question arises as to whether a person is a Bharatia under a particular thika tenant, the Controller, either on his own motion or upon receiving any information, may, after giving the persons interested an opportunity of being heard and after examining all such documents and particulars as may be considered necessary, enquire upon and decide such question.
(3) Any dispute regarding payment of rent by the thika tenant to the State Government or by a Bharatia to a thika tenant, or any case of eviction of Bharatia, shall be disposed of by the Controller in such manner as may be prescribed.
(4) A thika tenant may, in default of payment of rent to the State Government, be evicted or otherwise penalised by the Controller in such manner as may be prescribed.
[(5) An order passed by the Controller under the provisions of this Act shall be executable by the Controller as a decree of a Civil Court and for this purpose, the Controller shall have all the powers of a Civil Court.]
(6) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or in [the West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act, 1997], a Bharatia under a thika tenant shall be entitled to take separate electrical connection from the electricity supplying agency and separate water supply connection from the appropriate agency for his own use.
(7) A Bharatia shall be liable to pay rent to the thika tenant at such rate as may be prescribed.
(8) Where there is no thika tenant or the thika tenant is not traceable for any reason whatsoever, a Bharatia shall be liable to deposit rent with the Controller in respect of the area of the structure as is occupied by him at such rate, and in such manner, as may be prescribed.
(9) Notwithstanding anything contrary contained in the Act, the State Government shall not be deemed to be a landlord as defined in clause (c) of section 2 of the West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act, 1997 (West Bengal Act No. 37 of 1997), but be a licenser and the Bharatia shall be a licensee under the State, where there is no thika tenant.
10. Tenancy of Bharatia to continue.
(1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other law for the time being in force, the tenancy of a Bharatia as a tenant under a thika tenant shall not be extinguished because of subsequent non existence of the structure or a part thereof which the Bharatia previously occupied under the thika tenant.
(2) If any structure or part thereof which was in the occupation of a Bharatia as a tenant under a thika tenant ceases to exist except under any order of a court, the thika tenant shall reconstruct similar accommodation and restore possession to the Bharatia and put the Bharatia in possession of such accommodation within one month of such structure ceasing to exist, failing which the Bharatia may make an application to the Controller concerned in the prescribed manner.
(3) On an application made by a Bharatia under sub-section (2), the Controller having jurisdiction in the area shall, after giving the thika tenant and the Bharatia an opportunity of being heard, direct the thika tenant by an order in writing to reconstruct an accommodation in such manner as may be prescribed and restore possession to the Bharatia within such time as the Controller may specify in the order.
(4) If the thika tenant fails to comply with the order of the Controller under sub-section (3), the Bharatia shall be entitled to reconstruct the structure and, for that purpose, may make an application to the Controller who shall, after giving the Bharatia and the thika tenant an opportunity of being heard, approve such cost of reconstruction as may appear to him to be fair and reasonable and, after such reconstruction, allow adjustment of the cost of such reconstruction from the rent payable by the Bharatia in such monthly instalments as the Controller may think fit.
(5) If there is any unlawful resistance by or on behalf of the thika tenant to the reconstruction by the Bharatia under sub section (4), the Officer-in-Charge of the local police station shall, on receipt of any requisition of the Controller in writing in this behalf, render all necessary and lawful assistance to the Bharatia.
West Bengal Thika Tenancy (Acquisition and Regulation) Act, 2001
West Bengal Thika Tenancy (Acquisition and Regulation) Rules, 2004
Kolkata thika and other Tenancies and Lands (Acquisition and Regulation) Act, 1981 [ REP]