A Bengaluru Consumer Commission has directed a landlord to refund a tenant’s Rs 80,000 security deposit and pay Rs 10,000 towards litigation costs after he allegedly withheld the money without proof of any deductions for damage or outstanding dues. The tenant had vacated the flat after his workplace shifted from Nagawara to Whitefield, but the landlord allegedly made the refund conditional on finding a new tenant.

President Shivarama K and members Rekha Sayannavar and Suma Anilkumar of the III Additional Bengaluru Urban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission were hearing a complaint filed by Vireswar Mahanta against his landlord Basireddy Kondareddy.

“The mere assertion that the Opposite Party (landlord) is entitled to make deductions cannot, by itself, justify indefinite withholding of the entire deposit,” the commission said on September 26, noting that the landlord had failed to establish specific damage or quantify the amounts allegedly due.

Mahanta approached the commission after repeated…