Mumbai: Disposing of an appeal in a landlord-tenant dispute heard in Mumbai courts for 22 years, the Supreme Court has asked Bombay high court to call for a report from concerned courts regarding the period of pendency in such disputes and initiate appropriate steps for expeditious disposal of these cases.“When it comes to landlord-tenant disputes, there is an angle of being deprived of the enjoyment of the property and also the monetary benefits that accrue from owning such property,” the Supreme Court has said.A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Manoj Misra was hearing appeals against a Dec 2024 order of the Bombay high court on a dispute on per square foot rate at which the mesne profit was to be calculated in relation to Hindustan Organic Chemicals Ltd (HOCL)’s occupation as tenant of Harchandrai House. Mesne profits refer to profits that the person in wrongful possession of the property actually received or could have obtained with reasonable diligence.HOCL leased a 7,825 sq ft premises for three years that ended in 1966. The lease was extended and it continued till April 2000 when the landlord sent a notice of termination. The landlord filed a suit for eviction and recovery of possession in the Small Causes court. The court’s decision went in favour of the landlord. This was challenged along with the calculation of mesne profits. The possession was handed over but the dispute over calculation of mesne profits reached the Bombay high court. The HC did not agree with the appellate bench of the Small Causes Court on a uniform rate for the entire period besides calculating it based on the entire area instead of the built-up area. The SC said, “This dispute has been in the domain of the courts for more than two-and-a-half decades. The landlord took steps for termination of tenancy at the turn-of-the-century in 2000, and today, after a quarter of the century has already passed, only now, will they get the monetary fruits of the property that belongs to them. It is true that in some cases, the delay is squarely attributable to the litigating parties, but it’s also equally true that in many cases, the litigants have to wait for years on end for their disputes to be resolved by judicial fora” the SC said.The court said delayed adjudication means both parties suffer. “The landlord suffers on account of not receiving, in some cases, the property itself, and in other cases, the monetary dues therefrom and tenant suffers on account of being directed to pay large sums of money within a short period of time when the matter is finally decreed.”