My father who is currently 80-years old has a house in Pune, which he had taken on lease for a monthly payment of Rs. 30 which was slowly increased to Rs. 100 per month. At that time he has also paid a pugree of Rs. 1000. In the intervening years, the landlord has never spent any money on the upkeep or maintenance of the house/building.
My parents subsequently shifted to Delhi but retained the house in Pune, since they visited Pune sometimes to consult the medical doctors for my mother who had cancer. For the past 10 years though, the house has remained vacant and after the death of my mother three years ago, the landlord has requested us to vacate the premises, to which we are agreeable.
My father has consistently paid the rent, despite the landlord never coming to collect it. In the past ten years, the rent has not been paid, since the landlord changed residence, and we were not aware of his new place of residence.
The current landlord is the son of the original landlord who passed away a few years ago. The building also has three other tenants, of which one is similarly not staying and has kept the house locked for many years now.
My question is whether my father is entitled to any compensation in exchange for vacating the premises and giving up his tenancy rights.
If yes, then what would be a reasonable amount of compensation, he can ask for? The size of the property is about 300 sqft. The house is located in the centre of the city and current propery rates there are approx. Rs. 8000 per sq.ft. We have suggested two criteria for deciding this:
- Rs. 1000 in 1961 could purchase 100 gms of gold. Hence, we can consider the current value of 100 gms of gold as a reasonable benchmark
- Both tenants should be compensated in fair manner, and negotiations can be done jointly with both rather than singly.
The landlord refuses to agree to both suggestions. He is willing to pay max One lakh as compensation to us, which we feel is not fair compensation. He also refuses to deal with both tenants together, preferring to deal with us singly.
Please guide how we should deal with the landlord, since we do not wish to avoid litigation, but at the same want to be compensated fairly.
Appreciate your quick response.
