While adjorning the petition, which came up for hearing on Monday, the apex court has given other tenants and residents associations time till March 9 to file replies to the orginal petition.

The counsel for Maharashtra government, DM Nargoankar, has asked the court for four weeks to finalise the state government's stand on the issue.

Tenants and Residents Association's general secretary Nayan Momaya said, "Let's wait and see what happens on April 1. The court has also given time to other intervenors to express their demands with respect of the standard rents." With the adjournment, the state is now left with two options: either strike off provisons of the standard rents or draft the final rent act replacing the temporary legislation of 1947, which was only an interim measure.

JVPD Tenants' Associationsecretary Utsal Karani expressed fears about various intervenors. According to him, certain tenants' associations who have intervened are party to the property owners' associations.

The state government had earlier sought certain additional grounds to be included in the petition. It said that substantial amount of property in the city is not owned by orignial builders but by persons who have bought tenanted premises at relatively lower rates.

The government had also asked the court to consider the massive income that landlords in the city make from (ITAL) pugree or illicit transfer fees. Thus, the plea that the landlord is losing on his original investment is not genuine considering the fact that they have received amounts for transfers for the change of the status of the premises from residential to commercial or by constructing addtional flats on the same premises.