Landlord cut your power, gas and water?

The file: Lahore, 2013.

Lahore High Court, W.P. 25619 of 2013, 27 Feb 2020.

• The tenancyA father rents a property in Gulberg, Lahore.
• The refusalThe landlord's sons refuse the rent. Even a money order.
• The depositThe tenant deposits the rent in court instead.

Then the cut-off.

Sept 2013. The tenant's father dies.

• ElectricityDisconnected.
• Sui gasDisconnected.
• WaterDisconnected.

The law: section 12.

Punjab Rented Premises Act, 2009.

“Subject to the tenancy agreement, a landlord shall not (a) cut off, suspend or withhold, without just or sufficient cause, an amenity, utility or easement of the premises.”

Punjab Rented Premises Act 2009 · s.12(2), Obligations of landlord

What the Tribunal can do.

Section 12(4).

• RestoreOrder the landlord to restore the utility.
• Do it yourselfLet the tenant restore it and take the cost out of the rent.
• RepairsThe same for repairs the landlord will not make.

The twist: a 5% fine.

Section 9: a tenancy not made under the Act.

• TenantDeposits 5% of a year's rent before the Tribunal hears him.
• LandlordDeposits 10%.
• Every timeA fresh application, a fresh fine. That is what this case held.

No judge can waive it.

Supreme Court of Pakistan, C.A. 679-L of 2012, 21 Jun 2013.

• The fineMust be paid if the tenancy does not follow the Act.
• DiscretionThe Tribunal has none to waive it.

In Sindh? Jail.

Sindh Rented Premises Ordinance, section 11.

• No cut-offOf electricity, gas or water without the tenant's consent, an authority's requisition or the Controller's direction.
• RestoreThe Controller orders it, or restores it at the landlord's cost.
• PunishmentSimple imprisonment up to 6 months, or fine, or both.

Even with a civil suit on.

Sindh High Court, Rent Appeal 942 of 1986, 26 Jan 1989.

• The cutThe landlord's heirs cut the tenant's electricity.
• Their defenceA civil court's interim view that he was not a tenant.
• The rulingThat interim view did not stop his restoration case.

Power cut by the landlord?

Your 4-step list.

• Write it downDates, bills, messages.
• Keep paying rentIf refused, apply to deposit it (Punjab, section 20).
• ApplyRent Tribunal in Punjab. Controller in Sindh.
• Budget for the fine5% if your tenancy is not under the Act.

Your case next?

Ask FAI for the section and the judgments.

• My landlord cut the gas to force me out. What can I do in Lahore?
• Do I pay a fine to file in the Rent Tribunal without a registered agreement?

Example questions

Sources

• Punjab Rented Premises Act 2009 · s.12(2)
  Obligations of landlord Punjab Code