February 12: Not satisfied with Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray's statement that he would take the alliance government to task on the Rent Control Act, the Federation of the Old Buildings Co-operative Housing Societies want Thackeray to assure the tenants that the model Rent Control Act will not be based on the guidelines given by the Supreme Court.The state government has filed an affidavit before the SC that a new Rent Control Act, prepared following the SC directives, will be enacted on or before March 31, 1998. The state Chief Minister Manohar Joshi as well as his colleagues in the cabinet have been publicly saying that the state will protect the tenants in any case. However, on Wednesday, in a public rally at Thakurdwar to campaign for Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from South Mumbai, Jaywantiben Mehta, Thackeray had said he would take the alliance government to task if it failed to tenants' interests.A statement issued by Anil Goenka of the Federation on Wednesday evening said, "We shall be gladto know from Thackeray that though the government counsel has given assurance, the new Rent Control Act will not be designed on the SC judgement." It further said that the new Act was anti-tenant.Federation members have also accused Thackeray of not showing interest in the tenants' problems when the case came up for hearing in the SC. "We were really surprised to read Thackeray's statement about the Rent Control Act and the tenants. When this case came up for hearing, we frantically tried to contact Thackeray, but were unsuccessful. We were also not given his fax number. Probably Thackeray was not interested in meeting the tenants' deputation and help them. As a result, we lost the case in SC which we had won before in the Bombay HC. We want to know from Thackeray whether the state government will take into consideration the SC guidelines or not. If the answer is no, how do they counter their own affidavit filed in the SC."Meanwhile, the Action Committee for Protection of Tenants Rights will hold ameeting on the implications of amendments to be made in the Rent Control Act at Karsan Ladubhai Hall, Dadar. The meeting will be held at 3 pm on Friday.
