Amid the countrywide lockdown due to the deadly coronavirus, the Punjab government has banned the eviction of tenants for two months, in case of delay and non-payment of rent.
The provincial government issued a written order on April 10, directing the landlords to not evict the tenants even if they failed to pay the rent for two months. “During this period [a period of 2 months, starting from 10th April], no landlord shall evict any tenant forcefully, illegally or without due process of law, on account of non-payment/delayed payment of the rent,” the order directed the landlords.
The ban was imposed by Additional Home Secretary Momin Agha under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and will remain in place for the next two months.
The step has been taken as part of measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 and to give relief to the working class of the province in the times of coronavirus crisis.
The national tally of confirmed coronavirus cases has risen to 5477, with the provincial governments of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan confirming 2656, 1452, 744, and 230 cases respectively. Moreover, the government officials have confirmed 95 coronavirus deaths across the country, however, 1095 patients have recovered successfully and discharged from the hospitals to date.