24 June,2011 06:22 AM IST | | Salil Urunkar
Police urge citizens to contact sr officers if they encounter malpractices at police stations while registering tenant details
Gathering information on tenants from landlords and taking action against high-profile house owners who do not cooperate with them is proving to be a headache for the police. The whole process is complicated for citizens as well because of tricky registration procedures and the involvement of agents. A recent Saturday night party involving youths from the television industry ended up disturbing the peace of residents of the Himali society in Erandwane. It appears that the owner of the flat where the party took place had not provided the mandatory tenant information to the police. But despite residents complaining about this to the Kothrud police, no concrete action was taken against the flat owner, who is a relative of a prominent social activist.
Tenant trouble: Himali society, where a recent party in a rented flat
caused nuisance. file pic
A similar case involving Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and prominent builder Avinash Bhosale was hushed up by the Chatuhshrungi police. Pawar had in a press conference announced that Bhosale's bungalow was occupied by him on rental basis. Senior officers, who refuse to come on record, deny that action was delayed or deferred in the case of such high-profile landlords and flat owners. "Usually a notice is issued to the persons concerned and they are given a stipulated time period to respond. If they produce relevant documents, there's no question of action being taken against them," an officer said.
Citizen concerns
Saraswati Oza, a committee member of Himali society, said, "Flat owners who are connected with the who's who of the city are blatantly ignoring instructions of the society as well as the police. Agreements are done without informing society members and later on some untoward incident happens." Mahesh Ranade, a resident of Sinhagad road, said, "The police want us to submit stamp paper agreements. But some landlords, to save the stamp duty, rent out their property just on security deposit without registering the rental agreement. Clauses like these have made the procedure more of a harassment than help."
Police appeal
In a candid admission, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rajesh Bansode said, "We have been getting feedback about malpractices regarding the tenant information registration procedure at a few police stations. However, we appeal to people to register their tenants with the local police station and in case they need any help, they can contact senior officers."
Speaking to mediapersons, DCP (Zone I) Dnyaneshwar Phadtare had earlier stated: "Independent arrangement has been made at police stations for the tenant registrations. Dedicated police personnel are surveying their jurisdictions. Boxes have been kept at each police station where citizens can drop in their documents."
