Retrospective rent-control amendment limits inherited tenancy rights to residential premises and only to specified heirs.

A retrospective amendment to the Delhi Rent Control Act redefined "tenant" and created only a limited heritable right for successors after the death of a person continuing in possession after termination of tenancy. The amended scheme displaced the earlier understanding of statutory tenancy and controlled the succession position under the Act. That limited succession protection was construed as confined to family members ordinarily living in the premises, so it applies only to residential premises. The amendment does not extend to non-residential or business premises, and heirs receive only the restricted right created by the statute, subject to its conditions.

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Issues: (i) Whether the retrospective amendment to Section 2(1) of the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958 altered the law on heritability of tenancy rights after the death of a person continuing in possession after termination of tenancy; (ii) whether the amended definition of "tenant" extends to non-residential premises or is confined to residential premises.

Issue (i): Whether the retrospective amendment to Section 2(1) of the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958 altered the law on heritability of tenancy rights after the death of a person continuing in possession after termination of tenancy.

Analysis: The amendment substituted the earlier definition of "tenant" with retrospective effect from the commencement of the principal Act and introduced a limited succession scheme. The legislative change was treated as controlling the position in Delhi notwithstanding the earlier understanding of "statutory tenant" and the later declaration of law in Damadilal, because the amended provision operated retrospectively and redefined the rights of successors under the Act.

Conclusion: The amended definition governs, and the heirs acquire only the limited heritable right created by the amendment.

Issue (ii): Whether the amended definition of "tenant" extends to non-residential premises or is confined to residential premises.

Analysis: The succession language in the amended clause was construed in the setting of family members ordinarily living with the deceased tenant in the premises, which can meaningfully apply only where the premises are residential. The reasoning drawn from analogous rent-control legislation showed that the legislative protection was intended to prevent displacement of family members from their home, not to confer succession rights in business premises.

Conclusion: The amended definition applies only to residential premises and does not extend to non-residential premises.

Final Conclusion: The retrospective amendment creates only a restricted right of succession, and that right is available solely in relation to residential premises and only to the specified heirs satisfying the statutory conditions.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a rent-control amendment retrospectively redefines "tenant" and provides a limited succession scheme tied to family members ordinarily living in the premises, the protection is confined to residential premises and cannot be extended to non-residential tenancies.

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