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Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. vs Ajay Bhatia

Not available · 2022 INSC 1005Decided 22 Sept 2022
Not available
Indira Banerjee · A.S. Bopanna · J.K. Maheshwari

Background

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL), through its predecessor Caltex, had leased a plot of land in Azadpur, Delhi (Plot No. 4/4) since 1970 to run a petrol pump; an adjacent plot (No. 4/5) was separately leased to another HPCL predecessor for a second petrol pump. After the original lessor's death, Plot No. 4/4 eventually passed by inheritance to Ajay Bhatia, who sued HPCL for recovery of possession and mesne profits (compensation for wrongful occupation) once the lease expired in 2003. Bhatia obtained a decree, and when HPCL resisted execution, a dispute arose over exactly how much land HPCL was obligated to hand back, given confusion over the boundaries between the two adjacent plots (one of which partly belonged to the Delhi Government).

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the extent of the suit property to be handed over needed to be precisely determined by the Executing Court as part of executing the decree, since the two adjacent plots (4/4 and 4/5) had become intermingled and part of the land belonged to the Delhi Government rather than to either party. The Court set aside the High Court's order and directed the Executing Court to appoint a Revenue Officer as a Local Commissioner to physically demarcate Plot No. 4/4 and hand over possession of only that plot to Bhatia; any excess land taken from Plot 4/5 or government land was to be restored to HPCL. Bhatia remained entitled to mesne profits, to be freshly computed by the Executing Court from March 2006 until HPCL actually gives up possession, in line with Order 20 Rule 12 of the Civil Procedure Code.

Lesson Learnt

In long-running property disputes involving adjoining, historically leased plots, courts will insist on precise physical demarcation before executing a possession decree: a decree-holder is only entitled to the specific land actually covered by their decree, not any adjoining land that may have become mixed up with it.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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