Eviction Petition to the Rent Controller (Ejectment Petition) - East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949, sections 13 and 13-A

Stamp duty

NOT non-judicial stamp paper — a pleading isn't a Stamp Act instrument. It bears COURT FEE (judicial stamps); only the affidavit carries stamp duty. COURT FEE: Punjab's ad valorem slabs (2009/2010 Acts) ARE STAYED (RSA 3311/2013, order 27.11.2013) — the High Court Registry charges the un-amended 1870 table: Rs 1,126 at Rs 10,000 value, Rs 2,832 at Rs 50,000, Rs 3,320 at Rs 1,00,000, Rs 6,248 at Rs 4,00,000. Unconfirmed whether Punjab DISTRICT courts also use it. Chandigarh likely the pre-1966 position — unconfirmed. GET THE FIGURE AT THE COUNTER: typically a fixed Schedule II fee, valued at annual rent (petition) and arrears (money claim). Chandigarh: licensed vendor, District Courts, Sector 43 — ask Nazarat for the ejectment fee, vakalatnama fee, per-respondent process fee. Punjab: same three questions at the district courts, plus which table applies. REVISION to the High Court: Rs 13 (Civil Revision, checked 6 Sep 2026), annexures Rs 0.65/page, caveat Rs 6.50. District appeal: its own fee, filed within fifteen days (s.15(1)(b)). AFFIDAVIT — PUNJAB: Article 4, Schedule I-A, a small fixed sum (no table row exists — ask the vendor); NeSL/SHCIL e-stamp routes available. AFFIDAVIT — CHANDIGARH: same Article 4, small; e-Stamp via shcilestamp.com or the SCO 154-155, Deepak Tower, Sector 17-C counter (10.00-17.00). Vakalatnama: own court-fee stamp plus Advocates' Welfare Fund stamp. No gender-based concession exists for either jurisdiction.

Registration

NOTHING IS REGISTRABLE — a petition isn't an instrument (s.17); no Sub-Registrar involved, and the Controller's order is executed by a bailiff's warrant, not registered. What matters is the TENANCY DOCUMENT's registration. Chandigarh: a lease over a year is compulsory (s.17(1)(d)) — hence the eleven-month agreement's continued use; no sub-one-year duty slab, so it's stamped in the up-to-five-years row (2% plus 3% on security). Register at 30 Bays Building, Rooms 1-2, Sector 17 (12-1pm presentation, 3-5pm registration); fee 1% capped Rs 10,000 plus Rs 20 pasting; online via NGDRS — one of only eight States/UTs paying the fee online. Four months to present (s.23), four more on fine (s.25). Punjab: same s.17(1)(d) test, at the Sub-Registrar of the tehsil, via easyregistry.punjab.gov.in — 1% fee, 4%/8%/3% duty bands (confirm the 8% one-five-year figure, it looks like an error). WHY IT MATTERS: s.49 bars an unregistered-but-required lease from proving its terms — the landlord falls back on receipts/admissions (survivable, since oral tenancies are valid under the 1949 Act), but a change-of-user or covenant ground living only in an unregistered deed needs advice first.

Notarisation

THE PETITION ISN'T NOTARISED; THE AFFIDAVIT MUST BE SWORN. The petition's verification has two limbs — factual paragraphs to personal knowledge, legal/pleading paragraphs to information and advice — signed before nobody. The affidavit is sworn before an Oath Commissioner (District Judge-appointed, at/near the complex) or a Notary — either competent; courts prefer the Oath Commissioner. Bring original photo ID. SECTION 13-A: the affidavit IS the case — averring the specified landlord owns no other suitable accommodation locally (printed as paragraph 4). Swear it carefully; the tenant attacks it in his own s.18-A affidavit, and a false averment is a false affidavit, not just a lost case. Notarisation doesn't substitute for court fee, doesn't register an unregistered lease, and doesn't create evidence by itself. Documents filed with the petition need no notarisation — annexed as true copies, originals produced on request.

Witnesses

A PETITION HAS NO ATTESTING WITNESSES — signed by the party (and advocate); the affidavit by the deponent, attested by the Oath Commissioner/Notary. The Petitioner signs four places (petition, verification, affidavit, its verification) — every co-owner all four, and swears their own affidavit (one signed by one of several invites objection). A company/firm/trust signs through an authorised person with authority filed; an advocate signs below and files a vakalatnama per petitioner. What a petition actually needs is FACT witnesses per ground: arrears (account books, receipts, bank statement, postal proof); sub-letting (neighbour, signboard, GST registration, utility connection, written admission); impairment (dated photos, engineer's report); nuisance (neighbours' complaints, police diary); ceasing to occupy (nil-consumption bills, closed-shutter photos, neighbour's deposition); personal necessity (Petitioner and family, present accommodation's rent agreement, medical evidence). Every witness must attend the fixed hearing with photo ID. SERVICE is where petitions lose time: a complete set per respondent, process fee at Nazarat; on s.13-A, copies MUST go with the summons or the proceeding is vitiated. Keep registered-post proof of pre-litigation notices — persuades substituted service.