High Court verdict orders forming commission to fix house rent

The High Court has ordered the government to form a commission, which will fix the maximum and minimum house rent in different areas.

The bench of Justice Mohammad Bazlur Rahman and Justice Md Ruhul Quddus on Wednesday ordered for setting up the commission, which would fix area-wise house rent slabs, within six months.

The High Court’s order comes in a verdict on a petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB), a rights body. Filed in 2010, it sought enforcement of the existing laws on rent control.

Wednesday’s verdict says that a legal expert nominated by the law ministry will head the ‘high-powered’ commission.

It said the members of the commission should include a university teacher on housing and urban issues, a senior official of the housing and public works ministry, an expert on consumers’ rights, a representative of the civic society and a City Corporation official nominated by the government.

The commission will record opinions of tenants and landlords and will hold public hearings if necessary, said the verdict.

It also said the commission would identify the problems faced by landlords, tenants and forward its suggestions.

“We believe that the government will take steps to amend the existing laws on house rent upon the commission’s recommendations,” the High Court observed.

“We are very happy with the verdict. People have been waiting for a resolution of rent conflicts and now they have it, ” said advocate Manzil Murshid, who heads HRPB. “I believe, these cases will drop by 80 percent.”

“The court said house rent control needs a separate authority with jurisdiction to regulate all relevant questions.”

Raising rent does not follow a specific system which is a major cause of conflicts between landlords and tenants, said Murshid, the petition’s lawyer. 

The verdict said each ward must be assigned with a regulator, additional regulator and deputy regulator to resolve rent-related conflicts under Section – 3 of the House Rent Control Act 1991 until the commission’s recommendations become legal.

The government, it said, will have to take the ‘initiative within its financial capacity’.

The court has also directed all police OCs to make sure no tenant is thrown out or threatened while the commission’s recommendations become legal. Complaints must be resolved fast and security provided if necessary, it said.