Tenancy rights in liquidation remain subject to rent control restrictions and cannot be assigned without landlord consent.

A company's tenancy rights do not lose their character on winding up, and the official liquidator acts only as statutory administrator of those rights. A court-sanctioned sale under the Companies Act, 1956 does not transform the transfer into a transfer by operation of law, so the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958 continues to bar assignment or transfer of tenancy rights without the landlord's consent. The liquidator therefore cannot assign the tenancy or receive consideration for such assignment unless that consent is obtained.

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Issues: Whether, on the winding up of a company, the official liquidator can transfer the company's tenancy rights and receive consideration for the transfer without the landlord's consent under the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958.

Analysis: The tenancy rights of a company in liquidation continue to belong to the company, and the liquidator acts only as its statutory administrator. The power under the Companies Act, 1956 to sell property with the sanction of the court does not convert the transfer into a sale by the court or a transfer by operation of law. The restriction in the Rent Act against transfer or assignment of tenancy rights without the landlord's consent therefore continues to apply, and the policy of the Act would be defeated if premium could be taken through liquidation sales.

Conclusion: The official liquidator is bound by the prohibition in section 16(3) of the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958 and cannot assign the tenancy rights or receive consideration for such assignment without the landlord's consent.

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