Mira-Bhayandar: Letting out your flat, shop or any other commercial premises on rent in Mira-Bhayandar? Make sure you clear the tenant verification process at the local police station, failing which you will be liable to penal action in the form of first information reports (FIRs) for hiding the information.
With an aim of cracking down on criminals and anti-social elements who look for hideouts at rented accommodations, the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar Police Commissionerate in accordance with provisions under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPc), 1973, has mandated tenement verification process which till recently was a cosmetic online ritual under the aegis of the erstwhile Thane (rural) policing system.
Police Commissioner Sadanand Date has invoked provisions under section 144 of the CrPC to order property owners to furnish particulars of their tenants in the prescribed format via emails and registered post to the respective police station within three days. Apart from compiling data, the move was to aid police in tracking suspects and preventing them from indulging in crimes and using residential premises as hideouts.
“Estate agents and landlords should ensure that they clear the tenant verification process before renting out their commercial or residential property. It has come to light that in many cases, investigating agencies find it difficult to trace suspects due to the absence of proper documents and photographs. Failure in furnishing details of tenants will invite penal action,” said Senior Police Inspector Sanjay Hazare.
Section 144 of the CrPC states that no landlord shall rent out his or her accommodation to any person unless and until s/he has furnished particulars of the prospective tenant at the concerned police station. Breach of these orders is a punishable offence under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code. Renting houses and flats is witnessing an upward trend in the twin-city, but most of these properties are given to tenants without police verification.
