Why 'last 2 months rent against deposit' is illegal — and what to write into your agreement to stop it

This post is a draft scaffold. The full no-set-off doctrine, the Delhi HC and Bom HC authorities, and the exact contract language land in the next build.

The core: a landlord cannot unilaterally apply your deposit against the last two months' rent. The two obligations — your duty to pay rent, the landlord's duty to refund deposit — are legally independent. They have to be enforced separately. That's the whole basis on which Order XXXVII summary suits for deposit recovery work.

See the painting-charges deduction explainer for how this connects to the broader deposit-refund framework, and the move-in video checklist for the evidentiary baseline.

Legal claims for Surabhi to review

1. Tikka Brijinder Singh Bedi (Del HC 2010) — confirm citation and that it holds the no-set-off rule applies to security-deposit refunds.
2. Bafna Motors v. Bharat Petroleum Corp. (Bom HC 2022) — confirm citation and applicability outside the Bombay jurisdiction.
3. Whether any subsequent Supreme Court ruling has refined or overruled either.
4. Whether the phrase "independent obligation" is the canonical phrasing in Indian contract jurisprudence, or whether "separate cause of action" is preferable.