New Delhi, June 5 (Reporter) The Supreme Court on Thursday requested the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court to look into the pendency of landlord-tenant disputes across various courts in Maharashtra and take appropriate measures for their timely disposal if a pattern of inordinate delay is identified. A bench, comprising Justices Sanjay Karol and Manoj Misra, observed that prolonged delays in adjudicating such disputes result in deprivation of both enjoyment and monetary benefits of the property, causing hardship to the parties involved. The Court stated, “We request the Chief Justice, High Court of Judicature at Bombay, to take up this issue and call for a report from the concerned courts regarding the period of pendency in landlord-tenant disputes. Should it be found that there are many such instances as the present case, then appropriate steps should be taken or directions issued to further the cause of expeditious disposal of these cases,” the court said. The observation came during the hearing of two cross-appeals arising from a December 2024 judgment of the Bombay High Court. The dispute involved the calculation of mesne profits for Hindustan Organic Chemicals Ltd (HOCL), a tenant occupying ‘Harchandrai House’ in Mumbai. The dispute centred around the rate per square foot to be applied. While the Supreme Court upheld the High Court’s findings, it reduced the interest rate on the awarded amount from eight percent to six percent and directed the tenant to pay the due amount to the landlord within three months. The bench expressed deep concern over the protracted timeline of the case, noting, “This dispute has been in the domain of the courts for more than two-and-a-half decades. The landlord took steps for termination of tenancy at the turn of the century in 2000, and today, after a quarter of a century has already passed, only now will they get the monetary fruits of the property that belongs to them.” The Court acknowledged that delays may be attributable either to the litigating parties or to the functioning of the judicial system and therefore, left it to the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court to assess the situation and take suitable action where necessary...////...