Landlords are required to pay a court fee on the rents payable and not the security deposit when filing an eviction suit to throw out a tenant, the Karnataka High Court has ruled.
This is because the landlord is obliged to refund the security deposit amount to the tenant upon vacation of the premises, the court added while giving its verdict in the B Mohammed Kunhi & Anr versus Abdul Saleem Hassan case.
Disposing of a civil revision petition, the single judge Bench of Justice MI Arun said: “In a suit filed by the landlord for evicting the tenant, he is required to pay a Court fee on the rents payable and cannot take into consideration the security deposit, which are the advance amounts paid which he is required to refund to the tenant upon the tenant vacating the premises concerned. It is immaterial whether he terms the same as a premium or an advance or as a security deposit.”
In its order dated February 15, 2024, the HC also citied Sections 21 and 41 of the Karnataka Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1958, which were relevant to the case.
Under Section 41(2) of the law, in a suit for recovery of immovable property from a tenant including a tenant holding over after the termination of a tenancy, court fee shall be computed on the premium, if any, and on the rent payable for the year next before the date of presenting the plaint.
Citing a previous order, the HC also said that there was a difference between premium and security deposit.
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