The Madras High Court has been informed by the Director General of Police (DGP), Tamil Nadu, that First Information Reports (FIRs) will be registered against individuals who sublet property without the knowledge or consent of the actual owners. The court was addressing a case where a tenant fraudulently sublet a leased house, causing financial loss and distress to the rightful owner.
The matter came up before Justice A.D. Jagadish Chandira during the hearing of a petition filed by V. Kanagaraj seeking cancellation of bail granted to the accused in a subletting fraud case. The judge was told that the tenant had taken the property on lease and then handed it over to third parties on a usufructuary mortgage, without informing or getting permission from the house owner.
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The accused, while seeking bail, had claimed to be a genuine businessman who sublet the property only because of financial disputes and had assured the court that he would repay the owner by selling his family assets. However, he failed to fulfill this assurance, prompting further court action.
During the course of proceedings, it came to light that this was not an isolated incident but part of a larger pattern of organized fraud. The court observed that similar scams were being reported across various districts, affecting numerous unsuspecting property owners.
“The accused persons, in the pretext of being tenants, take properties on lease and later sublet them to third parties after collecting large sums of money, thereby cheating the owners,” the DGP informed the court.
Following the court’s direction, a circular was issued on 27 July 2024 by the DGP to all Commissioners of Police in cities and Superintendents of Police in districts. The circular mandated that any complaint by a house owner alleging unauthorized subletting should be immediately treated as a criminal offence and an FIR should be filed without delay.
“The complaints received in the police station given by house owners alleging that the tenant had handed over the property to third parties without their knowledge/consent should be strictly construed as a criminal offence and First Information Report (FIR) should be registered for appropriate sections immediately,” stated the DGP
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To ensure effective enforcement, Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents have been instructed to monitor investigations and conduct quarterly reviews. Unit officers were also directed to launch public awareness campaigns through social media and news channels to prevent similar scams in the future.
The court was informed that 40 such cases are pending in Chennai involving 67 victims, 342 victims in Tambaram, 20 in Avadi, and over 1020 victims in cases pending before the Economic Offences Wing. The total amount cheated was nearly ₹65 crores.
As part of the compliance, an awareness video featuring Commissioner of Police, Avadi, K. Shankar, was created and circulated on social media. The court appreciated the coordinated efforts of State Public Prosecutor Hasan Mohammed Jinnah, DGP Shankar Jiwal, and Commissioner K. Shankar in taking proactive steps.
“Further, this court feels that in the interest of public, the video clip containing the alert message has to reach the entire public in order to deter them from falling prey in the hands of fraudulent persons in future and thereby it has to be widely circulated and flashed in the news channels and social media,” the court stated.
The case highlights the importance of vigilance among property owners and stringent action against those exploiting rental agreements to defraud others. The matter, registered under Crl.M.P.No.1322 of 2024 and Crl.O.P.No.7699 of 2023, was brought to a close with directions for continued public awareness and police oversight.
