VoxJuris
Home › Acts › Transfer of Property Act, 1882 › Chapter V › Section 106

Transfer of Property Act, 1882 · Chapter V: Of Leases of Immoveable Property

Section 106: Duration of certain leases in absence of written contract or local usage

In plain words

Unless a contract, local law or usage says otherwise, a lease for agricultural or manufacturing purposes is year to year and can be ended by six months' notice, and a lease for any other purpose is month to month and can be ended by fifteen days' notice.

  • The notice period runs from the date the notice is received.
  • A notice is not invalid just because it gives a shorter period, if the suit is filed after the proper period has passed.
  • The notice must be in writing, signed, and sent by post, delivered personally or to a family member or servant, or fixed on the property if delivery is not practicable.

A simplified explanation, prepared with AI assistance from the official text below and checked automatically against it for numbers and cross-references. The official text is the law and prevails over this summary. Not legal advice.

Read the in-depth explanation, with key Supreme Court rulings ↓

Official text

(1) In the absence of a contract or local law or usage to the contrary, a lease of immovable property for agricultural or manufacturing purposes shall be deemed to be a lease from year to year, terminable, on the part of either lessor or lessee, by six months' notice; and a lease of immovable property for any other purpose shall be deemed to be a lease from month to month, terminable, on the part of either lessor or lessee, by fifteen days' notice.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, the period mentioned in sub-section (1) shall commence from the date of receipt of notice.

(3) A notice under sub-section (1) shall not be deemed to be invalid merely because the period mentioned therein falls short of the period specified under that sub-section, where a suit or proceeding is filed after the expiry of the period mentioned in that sub-section.

(4) Every notice under sub-section (1) must be in writing, signed by or on behalf of the person giving it, and either be sent by post to the party who is intended to be bound by it or be tendered or delivered personally to such party, or to one of his family or servants at his residence, or (if such tender or delivery is not practicable) affixed to a conspicuous part of the property.]

Source: India Code (indiacode.gov.in), the consolidated text published by the Legislative Department, Government of India. Text as updated on India Code on 15 October 2026. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.

Understanding this section

Section 106 fixes the default duration and notice period of leases. Unless a contract, local law or usage says otherwise, a lease for agricultural or manufacturing purposes runs from year to year and ends on six months' notice; any other lease runs from month to month and ends on fifteen days' notice.

The 2002 amendment

Earlier, notices were often struck down for small defects, such as not ending with the last day of a month of the tenancy. The amendment made the period run from the date of receipt, and said a notice is not invalid just because the period stated falls short, as long as the suit is filed after the period expires. The notice must be in writing, signed, and sent by post or delivered as the section says.

Relation to rent control laws

Where a State rent control law governs eviction, the tenant can be evicted only on the grounds in that law. A notice under section 106 is then not required as a precondition, because the right to evict comes from the rent law. Under the general law, the Court has also said that filing an eviction suit can itself serve as a notice to quit.

Key Supreme Court rulings

Common mistakes

  • Rejecting a notice only because it gives a slightly shorter period. After 2002 that is not fatal if the suit is filed after the period.
  • Insisting on a section 106 notice in an eviction under a rent control Act.

Read with: Section 105 Transfer of Property Act, 1882, Section 111 Transfer of Property Act, 1882

Prepared with AI assistance as a study aid. Every ruling listed was checked against the Supreme Court's own judgments on this site, and quoted words appear in those judgments; linked names open the full judgment. Read the judgments themselves before relying on them. Not legal advice.

Supreme Court judgments citing the section 106