Case: State Of Haryana Vs. Mukesh Kumar

6. The State of Haryana had filed a Civil Suit through the Superintendent of Police, Gurgaon, seeking a relief of declaration to the effect that it has acquired the rights of ownership by way of adverse possession over land measuring 8 biswas comprising khewat no. 34, khata no. 56, khasra no. 3673/452 situated in the revenue estate of Hidayatpur Chhavni, Haryana.7. The other prayer in the suit was that the sale deed dated 26th March, 1990, mutation no. 3690 dated 22nd November, 1990 as well as judgment and decree dated 19th May, 1992, passed in Civil Suit No. 368 dated 9 th March, 1991 are liable to be set aside. As a consequential relief, it was also prayed that the defendants be perpetually restrained from interfering with the peaceful possession of the plaintiff (petitioner herein) over the suit land. For the sake of convenience we are referring the petitioner as the plaintiff and the respondents as defendants.8. In the written statement, the defendants raised a number of preliminary objections pertaining to estoppel, cause of action and mis-joinder of necessary parties. It was specifically denied that the plaintiff ever remained in possession of the suit property for the last 55 years. It was submitted that the disputed property was still lying vacant. However, the plaintiff recently occupied it by using force and thereafter have also raised a boundary wall of police line. It was denied in the written statement that the plaintiff acquired right of ownership by way of adverse possession qua property in question. The defendants prayed for dismissal of suit and by way of a counter claim also prayed for a decree for possession qua suit property be passed.9. The Trial Court framed the following Issues in the suit.1. Whether plaintiffs have become owner of disputed property by way of adverse possession? OPP2. Whether sale deed 26.3.1990 and mutation no. 3690 dated 22.11.90 are null and void as alleged? OPP3. Whether judgment and decree dated 19.05.92 passed in civil suit no. 368 dated 9.3.91 is liable to be set aside alleged? OPP4. Whether the suit of the plaintiff is not maintainable in the present form? OPP5. Whether the plaintiff has no locus-standi to file the present suit? OPP6. Whether the plaintiff has no cause of action to file the present suit? OPP7. Whether the suit of the plaintiff is bad for mis- joinder of necessary parties? OPP8. Whether defendants no. 1 to 4 are rightful owners of disputed property on the basis of impugned sale deed dated 23.6.1990 registered on 3.7.1990? OPP9. Whether defendants are entitled for possession of disputed property? OPP10. Relief.10. Issue No. 1 which relates to adverse possession and issue No. 4 pertaining to maintainability were decided together. According to the Trial Court, the plaintiff has failed to prove the possession over the disputed property because the plaintiff could not produce any documentary evidence to prove this. On the contrary, revenue records placed on the file shows that the defendants are the owners in possession of disputed property. The Trial Court observed that possession of State, as claimed in the plaint for a continuous period of 55 years, stood falsified by the documents issued by the officials of the State.11. The Trial Court also observed that despite claiming adverse possession, there was no pleading qua denial of title of the defendants by the plaintiff, so much so that the specific day when the alleged possession of State allegedly became adverse against the defendants has not been mentioned in order to establish the starting point of limitation could be ascertained.12. The Trial Court relied on the judgment of this Court in S.M. Karim v. Mst. Bibi Sakina AIR 1964 SC 1254 wherein this Court has laid down that the adverse possession must be adequate in continuity, in publicity and extent and a plea is required at the least to show when possession becomes adverse. The Court also held that long possession is not necessarily adverse possession.13. The Trial Court also relied on a decision of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana in the case of Bhim Singh & Ors. v. Zile Singh & Ors., AIR 2006 P and H 195, wherein it was stated that no declaration can be sought by a plaintiff with regard to the ownership on the basis of adverse possession.14. The Trial Court came to specific conclusion that despite the fact that the possession of the plaintiff over the disputed land is admitted on behalf of defendants, Issue No. 1 stand decided against the plaintiff. It was held that the suit of the plaintiff claiming ownership by way of adverse possession is not maintainable. Consequently, Issue No. 1 was decided against the plaintiff and Trial No. 4 was decided in favour of the defendants.15. The Trial Court decided Issue Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 6 together and came to the definite conclusion that the plaintiff failed to prove its possession over the property in question. It was also held that the plaintiff had no locus standi to challenge the validity of the impugned sale deed, mutation as well as the judgment and decree because the plaintiff was neither the owner nor in possession of the property in dispute. Consequently, the plaintiff had no right to say that the impugned sale deed dated 26th March, 1990 was a sham transaction and the suit of mutation dated 22nd November, 1990 and, thereafter, the judgment and decree dated 19th May, 1992 passed in Civil Suit No. 386 dated 9th March, 1991 are liable to be set aside.16. The Trial Court came to the conclusion that the plaintiff having no right or title in the suit property has neither locus standi nor cause of action to file the present suit. Issue Nos. 2 and 3 were decided against the plaintiff, whereas, Issue Nos. 5 and 6 were decided in favour of the defendants.17. Regarding Issue Nos. 8 and 9, the Trial Court observed that once it is held that defendant Nos. 1 to 4 are owners of the disputed property, which is presently in possession of the plaintiff without any right, they (defendants) are entitled to its possession. Hence, Issue Nos. 8 and 9 were also decided in favour of the defendants.18. Issue No. 7 was not pressed and decided against the defendants.19. Regarding Issue No. 10 (relief) the Trial Court observed asa sequel to the findings of this court on the issues mentioned above, the suit of the plaintiff stands dismissed, however, counter claim filed by defendants is decreed with costs to the effect that they are entitled to possession of land measuring 8 biswas comprising of khewat no. 34 khata no. 56 khasa no. 3673/452 situated in revenue estate of Hidayatpur Chhavni village now the part of known as Patel Nagar, Gurgaon. Decree sheet be drawn accordingly. File be consigned to the record room after due compliance.The plaintiff, aggrieved by the judgment of the Trial Court filed an appeal (Civil Appeal No. 33) before the learned Additional District Judge, Gurgaon. Learned Additional District Judge while deciding the appeal, relied on the judgment of the Punjab & Haryana High Court delivered in the case of Food Corporation of India and Another v. Dayal Singh 1991 PLJ 425, wherein it was observed that it does not behove the Government to take the plea of adverse possession against the citizens.21. Learned Additional District Judge also relied on other judgments of Punjab & Haryana High Court in the cases of Bhim Singh & Ors. (supra) and Kanak Ram & Ors. v. Chanan Singh & Ors. (2007) 146 PLR 498 wherein it was held that a person in adverse possession of immovable property cannot file a suit for declaration claiming ownership and such a suit was not maintainable.22. Before parting with the judgment the learned Additional District Judge observed regarding conduct of the plaintiff that the present suit was filed by State of Haryana by the then Superintendent of Police, Gurgaon on 11th May, 1996. It was also observed by the learned Additional District Judge that the Police department is for the protection of the people and property of the citizens and the police department had unnecessarily dragged the defendants in unnecessary litigation. The appeal was dismissed with exemplary cost of Rs.25,000/-.23. Unfortunately, despite serious strictures passed by the Court, the State of Haryana did not learn a lesson and preferred a Second Appeal (RSA No. 3909 of 2008) before the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh against the judgments and decrees of the two courts below.24. The High Court, relying on the earlier judgments, observed that the welfare State which was responsible for the protection of life and property of its citizens, was in the present case, itself trying to grab the land/property of the defendants under the garb of plea of adverse possession and hence the action of the plaintiff is deplorable and disgraceful.25. Unfortunately, the State of Haryana, is still not satisfied with the three strong judgments by three different forums given against the State and is still quite anxious and keen to grab the property of the defendants in a clandestine manner on the plea of adverse possession.26. In a democracy, governed by rule of law, the task of protecting life and property of the citizens is entrusted to the police department of the government. In the instant case, the suit has been filed through the Superintendent of Police, Gurgaon, seeking right of ownership by adverse possession.27. The revenue records of the State revealed that the disputed property stood in the name of the defendants. It is unfortunate that the Superintendent of Police, a senior official of the Indian Police Service, made repeated attempts to grab the property of the true owner by filing repeated appeals before different forums claiming right of ownership by way of adverse possession.28. The citizens may lose faith in the entire police administration of the country that those responsible for the safety and security of their life and property are on a spree of grabing the properties from the true owners in a clandestine manner.29. A very informative and erudite Article was published in Neveda Law Journal Spring 2007 with the title `Making Sense Out of Nonsense: A Response to Adverse Possession by Governmental Entities. The Article was written by Andrew Dickal. Historical background of adverse possession was discussed in that article.Historical background30. The concept of adverse possession was born in England around 1275 and was initially created to allow a person to claim right offrom his ancestry. Many felt that the original law that relied onwas difficult to establish, and around 1623 a statue of limitations was put into place that allowed for a person in possession of property for twenty years or more to acquire title to that property. This early English doctrine was designed to prevent legal disputes over property rights that were time consuming and costly. The doctrine was also created to prevent the waste of land by forcing owners to monitor their property or suffer the consequence of losing title.31. The concept of adverse possession was subsequently adopted in the United States. The doctrine was especially important in early American periods to cure the growing number of title disputes. The American version mirrored the English law, which is illustrated by most States adopting a twenty-year statue of limitations for adverse possession claims. As America has developed to the present date, property rights have become increasingly more important and land has become limited. As a result, the time period to acquire land by adverse possession has been reduced in some States to as little as five years, while in others, it has remained as long as forty years. The United States has also changed the traditional doctrine by preventing the use of adverse possession against property held by a governmental entity.32. During the colonial period, prior to the enactment of the Bill of Rights, property was frequently taken by states from private land owners without compensation. Initially, undeveloped tracts of land were the most common type of property acquired by the government, as they were sought for the installation of public road. Under the colonial system it was thought that benefits from the road would, in a newly opened country, always exceed the value of unimproved land.33. The doctrine of adverse possession arose in an era where lands were vast particularly in the United States of America and documentation sparse in order to give quietus to the title of the possessor and prevent fanciful claims from erupting. The concept of adverse possession exits to cure potential or actual defects in real estate titles by putting a statute of limitation on possible litigation over ownership and possession. A landowner could be secure in title to his land; otherwise, long-lost heirs of any former owner, possessor or lien holder of centuries past could come forward with a legal claim on the property. Since independence of our country we have witnessed registered documents of title and more proper, if not perfect, entries of title in the government records. The situation having changed, the statute calls for a change.

Court's reasoning:
A person pleading adverse possession has no equities in his favour since he is trying to defeat the rights of the true owner. It is for him to clearly plead and establish all facts necessary to establish adverse possession. Though we got this law of adverse possession from the British, it is important to note that these days English Courts are taking a very negative view towards the law of adverse possession. The English law was amended and changed substantially to reflect these changes, particularly in light of the view that property is a human right adopted by the European Commission. This Court in Revamma (supra) observed that to understand the true nature of adverse possession,Fairweather v. St Marylebone Property Co [1962] 2 WLR 1020 : [1962] 2 All ER288 can be considered where House of Lords referring to Taylorv. Twinberrow [1930] 2 K.B.16 termed adverse possession as a negative and consequential right effected only because somebody elses positive right to access the court is barred by operation of law. As against the rights of the paper-owner, in the context of adverse possession, there evolves a set of competing rights in favour of the adverse possessor who has, for a long period of time, cared for the land, developed it, as against the owner of the property who has ignored theinherited this law of adverse possession from the British. The Parliament may consider abolishing the law of adverse possession or at least amending and making substantial changes in law in the larger public interest. The Government instrumentalities - including the police - in the instant case have attempted to possess land adversely. This, in our opinion, a testament to the absurdity of the law and a black mark upon the justice systems legitimacy. The Government should protect the property of a citizen - not steal it. And yet, as the law currently stands, they may do just that. If this law is to be retained, according to the wisdom of the Parliament, then at least the law must require those who adversely possess land to compensate title owners according to the prevalent market rate of the land or property in question. This alternative would provide some semblance of justice to those who have done nothing other than sitting on their rights for the statutory period, while allowing the adverse possessor to remain onis an urgent need for a fresh look of the entire law on adverse possession. We recommend the Union of India to immediately consider and seriously deliberate either abolition of the law of adverse possession and in the alternate to make suitable amendments in the law of adverse possession. A copy of this judgment be sent to the Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice, Department of Legal Affairs, Government of India for taking appropriate steps in accordance with law.52. This Special Leave Petition is dismissed with costs of Rs.50,000/- (Rupees Fifty Thousand only) to be paid by the State of Haryana for filing a totally frivolous petition and unnecessarily wasting the time of the Court and demonstrating its evil design of grabbing the properties of lawful owners in a clandestine manner. The costs be deposited within four weeks from the date of pronouncement of this judgment. In this petition, we did not issue notice to the defendants, therefore, we direct that the costs be deposited with the National Legal Services Authority for utilizing the same to enable the poor litigants to contest their cases.