LI Network
Published on: January 6, 2024 at 00:05 IST
The Supreme Court has established that tenants cannot claim adverse possession against their landlords, affirming that their possession is permissive rather than adversarial.
In a recent case, a bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Rajesh Bindal addressed an appeal challenging the Allahabad High Court’s dismissal of a suit for ownership/possession as time-barred.
The plaintiff asserted ownership through a registered sale deed from 1966 and claimed possession based on this deed. However, in 1975, when the defendants obstructed construction, the plaintiff filed the suit.
Despite the trial court initially decreeing the suit and the first appellate Court upholding it, the High Court ruled the suit time-barred. According to the High Court, the defendants had established adverse possession against the plaintiff’s predecessors-in-interest since 1944.
Disputing this conclusion, the Supreme Court highlighted that the defendant respondents were tenants, making their possession permissive in relation to the landlords at that time. Therefore, the concept of the defendants claiming adverse possession from 1944 was unfounded.
The Court clarified that the plaintiff obtained ownership through the registered sale deed in 1966. Any dispute regarding possession with the defendant respondents could only arise after this date, not prior.
The suit, filed within 12 years in May 1975 from the date of the sale deed, remained within the statutory period. Even if the defendants were in possession before 1944, their tenancy remained permissible, not adverse.
Ultimately, the Supreme Court upheld the appeal, maintaining the judgment passed by the First Appellate Court.
This decision decreed the suit for possession, establishing that the 12-year period for Protecting the rights through adverse possession commenced from 1966, and the suit filed in 1975 fell within the permissible time frame.