This is a suit filed by the Plaintiff, which is a registered
partnership firm, against the Defendant, which is a
company, for recovery of a sum of Rs. 44,80,000 along with
interest.
2. The plaint averments in brief are that, the Defendant,
as absolute owner, leased out the Ground floor premises of
the commercial building known as Embassy Classic,
situated at No. 14, Vittal Mallya Road, Bangalore, measuring
3,200 square feet to the Plaintiff, in the year 2005.
Thereafter, successive lease agreements were entered into
between the parties and the last lease agreement between
the parties is a registered lease deed dated 31.08.2016,
which was for a period of 3 years from 15/06/2016 to
14/06/2019, under which the monthly rent fixed was Rs.
6,40,000 with an annual escalation of 5% and maintenance
charges of Rs. 8.02/sq. ft. Under the said lease deed, it was
also acknowledged that, the Defendant has received
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security deposit amount of Rs. 44,80,000 from the Plaintiff.
After the conclusion of the lease period, on 14/06/2019, the
Plaintiff continued as a monthly tenant, and the last paid
rent was Rs. 7,62,048, and the last paid maintenance
charge was Rs. 29,495. In view of the COVID-19 lockdown,
the Plaintiff sought for waiver of rent from April 2020. The
Defendant rejected the request and instead demanded
enhanced rent from the date of completion of the lease
period i.e., from 14/06/2019. Since it was not feasible for
the Plaintiff to continue the tenancy in view of the COVID-19
restrictions, the Plaintiff issued an email dated 01/06/2020,
terminating the tenancy with effect from 01/07/2020 and
demanded refund of the security deposit amount. The
Defendant replied, claiming a sum of Rs. 44,91,685 from
the Plaintiff. This constrained the Plaintiff to issue a legal
notice dated 01/07/2020, stating that the Plaintiff has
vacated the premises and is ready to hand over the keys.
However, the Defendant did not come forward to collect the
keys and refund the security deposit amount. With these
pleadings, the suit is filed for recovery of the security
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deposit amount of Rs. 44,80,000 along with interest at 8%
per annum from 01/07/2020 till the date of payment.