The Supreme Court passed an order on 5th May 2020, refusing to entertain a petition which sought direction for the Centre to ensure compliance with the MHA order with respect to payment of rent by students and laborers during the lockdown due to COVID19.
The three Judges bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, dismissed the plea and said that the Supreme Court cannot implement the orders of the government. The bench added that there is already a helpline to monitor the situation and aggrieved persons can approach the authorities concerned through it.
The petitioners, had alleged that landlords are arbitrarily and unlawfully asking for rent despite government order to the contrary. The MHA order states that those landlord who force people to vacate their houses will face action. Therefore the petitioner sought compliance of this order.
The plea added that the tenants were forced to pay the full rent despite the government order, failing which they are being threatened to be thrown out of their houses and that this has resulted in living in fear and depressions as they are not financially capable to pay the rent due to financial crisis that arose due to lockdown.
