Gujarat Rent Bill 2026 Shelved After Massive Lawyer Protests

The state government has announced a major policy U-turn, confirming that the controversial Gujarat Rent Bill, 2026, will not be implemented following a massive statewide strike by legal professionals. On October 5, 2026, Advocate General Kamal Trivedi formally assured the Gujarat High Court that the Bill will not receive the Governor's assent, and the state will move to reinstate the original Rent Control Act. The intervention follows severe court disruptions across Ahmedabad, Surat, and Vadodara as the Bar Council of Gujarat (BCG) led an indefinite work boycott. The core friction behind the agitation stems from a fundamental structural change in property litigation: • Loss of Court Jurisdiction: The new bill aimed to strip judicial powers from Civil Courts and Small Causes Courts. • Shift to Executive Bureaucrats: Dispute resolution responsibilities were slated to transfer to revenue authorities, such as Deputy Collectors and Additional Collectors. Lawyers argued this move severely compromises fair trial principles, bypasses judicial expertise, and introduces severe administrative bottlenecks for property owners. For property developers, NRI investors, landlords, and commercial tenants, the status quo remains completely intact. While the real estate sector has long anticipated a modernized legal framework to cap security deposits and streamline digital tenancy registration, any upcoming legislative drafts will now require heavy collaboration with the legal community. For the foreseeable future, all landlord-tenant disputes across Gujarat will continue to be mediated through standard judicial processes.