A Division Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Bela M Trivedi said that failure or non-payment of rent may have civil consequences, but cannot be considered a penal offence under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
“We are of the opinion that no criminal offence is made out, even if we accept the factual assertions made in the complaint, which was registered as the First Information Report. Failure to pay rent may have civil consequences, but is not a penal offence under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (for short, “IPC”). Mandatory legal requirements for the offence of cheating under Section 415 and that of misappropriation under Section 403 IPC are missing,” the Court said.
Source: Barandbench
