27. Penalty for cutting off or withholding of essential supply or service.
(1) No landlord, either himself or through any person purporting to act on his behalf, shall, without any prior permission of the Controller, cut off or withhold any essential supply or service enjoyed by the tenant in respect of the premises let out to him.
(2) If the landlord contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1), the tenant may make an application to the Controller complaining of such contravention within six months.
(3) (a) If the Controller is satisfied that the essential supply or service was cut off or withheld by the landlord or his agentAgent An agent is a person employed to do any act for another or to represent another in dealings with third persons. The person for whom such act is done, or who is so represented, is called the principal. Indian Contract Act, the Controller may pass an order directing the landlord to restore such supply or service immediately pending the inquiry referred to in sub-section (4).
(b) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (a), the Controller may pass an interim order without giving any notice to the landlord.
(4) If the Controller, on inquiry, finds that the essential supply or service enjoyed by the tenant in respect of the premises was cut off or withheld by the landlord without prior permission of the Controller, he shall pass an order directing the landlord to restore such supply or service.
(5) The Controller may direct that compensation, not exceeding five thousand rupees, be paid –
(a) to the landlord by the tenant, if the application was made frivolously or vexatiously, or
(b) to the tenant by the landlord, if the landlord or his agent had cut off or withheld such supply or service without prior permission of the Controller.
Explanation I. – “Essential supply or service” shall include supply of water, electricity, light in passage, staircase, and conservancy and sanitary service.
Explanation II. – For the purposes of this section, “withholding of essential supply or service” shall include acts or omissions attributable to the landlord, on account of which the essential supply or service is cut off by the local authority or any other competent authority.
35. Making of repair and taking of measures for maintenance of essential service.
(1) If the landlord neglects or fails to make tenantable repair of the premises or to take measures for due maintenance of essential supply or service comprised in the tenancy, the Controller shall, on application made to him by the tenant in possession of the premises, cause a notice to be served in the prescribed manner on the landlord requiring him to make such repair or take such measures for due maintenance therein of the essential supply or service.
(2) If after the service of notice under sub-section (1), the landlord fails to show proper cause or neglects to make such repair or to take, within reasonable timeTime Where any expression of it occurs in any Rules, or any judgment, order or direction, and whenever the doing or not doing of anything at a certain time of the day or night or during a certain part of the day or night has an effect in law, that time is, unless it is otherwise specifically stated, held to be standard time as used in a particular country or state. (In Physics, time and Space never exist actually-“quantum entanglement”), such measures, as the case may be, the tenant may submit to the Controller an estimate of the cost of such repair or measures with application for permission to make such repair or take such measures himself, and thereupon the Controller may, after giving the landlord an opportunity of being heard and after considering such estimate and making such inquiries as may be considered necessary, by order in writing, permit the tenant to make such repair or take such measures at such cost as may be specified in the order.
Explanation. – “Essential supply or service” shall have the same meaning as in Explanation I to sub-section (5) of section 27.
West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act, 1997
West Bengal Premises Tenancy Rules, 1999
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