Can tenant deposit rent in court than giving it to legal heirs?

First of all, the tenant cannot all of the sudden deposit rent in court, and for depositing rent in court the formalities stipulated in the relevant Rent Control Act, of  the particular state is to be complied with.

Assuming your property is situated in Delhi, you will be governed by Delhi Rent Control Act. The pre-requisite to deposit rent with the Controller is provided in Section 27(1) of Delhi Rent Control which clearly states that tenant can only deposit the rent with controller if:

i. the landlord does not accept the rent tendered by tenant within the time referred to in Section 26,

ii. refuses or neglects to deliver a receipt therein,

iii. where there is a bonafide doubt as to the person or person to whom the rent is payable.

In view of aforesaid we will first have to examine whether tenant is complying to the above conditions laid down in 26 and 27 in the Act. 

Secondly, Section 27 of the Act stipulates the procedure of depositing rent with the Court. The section is reproduced herein for your understanding:

27 (2) The deposit shall be accompanied by an application by the tenant containing the following particulars, namely:-

a. the premises for which the rent is deposited with a description sufficient for identifying the premises;

b. the period for which the rent is deposited;

c. the name and address of the landlord or the person or persons claiming to be entitled to such rent;

d. the reasons and circumstances for which the application for depositing the rent is made;

e. such other particulars as may be prescribed.

3. On such deposit of the rent being made, the Controller shall send in the prescribed manner a copy or copies of the application to the landlord or persons claiming to be entitled to the rent with an endorsement of the date of the deposit.

4. If an application is made for the withdrawal of any deposit of rent, the Controller shall, if satisfied that the applicant is the person entitled to receive the rent deposited, order the amount of the rent to be paid to him in the manner prescribed:

Provided that no order for payment of any deposit of rent shall be made by the Controller under this sub-section without giving all persons named by he tenant in his application under sub-section (2) as claiming to be entitled to payment of such rent being decided by a court of competent jurisdiction.

5. If at the time of filing the application under sub-section (4), but not after the expiry of thirty days from receiving the notice of deposit, the landlord or the person or persons claiming to be entitled to the rent complains or complain to the Controller that the statements in the tenant’s application of the reasons and circumstances which led him to deposit the rent are untrue, the Controller, after giving the tenant an opportunity of being heard, may levy on the tenant a fine which may extend to an amount equal to two months’ rent, if the Controller is satisfied that the said statements were materially untrue and may order that a sum out of the fine realized be paid to the landlord as compensation.

6. The Controller may, on the complaint of the tenant and after giving an opportunity to the landlord of being heard, levy on the landlord a fine which may extend to an amount equal to two months’ rent, if the Controller is satisfied that the landlord, without any reasonable cause, refused to accept rent though tendered to him within the time referred to in section 26 and may further order that a sum out of the fine realized be paid to the tenant as compensation.

Thirdly, with respect to your second query, in order to collect the rent from Controller, you will be required to file application under Section 27(4)(mentioned here in above) and along with this application, you will have to annex the legal heir certificate and all necessary documents to establish the ownership in the property.

Kindly contact us for any further details and action.