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Ravinder Kaur Grewal & Ors. v. Manjit Kaur & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2019 INSC 869Decided 7 Aug 2019
Civil Appeal No. 7764 of 2014
Justice Arun Mishra · Justice S. Abdul Nazeer · Justice M.R. Shah

Background

This three-judge judgment answers a question of law; it does not decide the appeal itself. The question was whether a person who has perfected title by adverse possession can file a suit to protect that title, or can only raise adverse possession as a defence.

Decision Breakdown

This is not a final judgment in the appeal. The Court held that title acquired by adverse possession can be used by a plaintiff to sue, and overruled Gurudwara Sahab v. Gram Panchayat Village Sirthala and the decisions that followed it. It directed that the matters be placed before the appropriate bench to be decided on merits.

Lesson Learnt

Adverse possession can be used as a sword as well as a shield: a person who has perfected title this way can sue to protect it.

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

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