lease

Section 105 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 defines a lease of immovable property as a transfer of a right to enjoy it, made for a certain time, express or implied, or in perpetuity, in consideration of a price paid or promised (premium), or of money, a share of crops, service or anything of value paid periodically (rent). The lessee gets an interest in the property, which a licensee does not.

A lease from year to year, for more than a year, or reserving a yearly rent can be made only by a registered instrument (Section 107). Where the parties are silent on duration, Section 106 presumes a lease for agricultural or manufacturing purposes to be from year to year and other leases to be from month to month. Rent control laws such as the Karnataka Rent Act, 1999 may further limit eviction.

Example

Because exclusive possession was given for five years at a monthly rent, the arrangement was a lease and not a licence.

In Indian law

• Sections 105 to 111, Transfer of Property Act, 1882
• Associated Hotels of India Ltd. v. R.N. Kapoor, 1959 INSC 89: tests to distinguish lease from licence

See also

licence · tenant at sufferance · eviction · transfer of property

Read more in the study notes

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