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Sanjay Maruti Jadhav & Anr. vs. Amit Tatoba Sawant

Not available · 2024 INSC 345Decided 26 Apr 2024
Not available
Justice Vikram Nath · Justice Satish Chandra Sharma

Background

The appellants owned a property that they had given to the respondent under a leave-and-licence agreement. The respondent alleged that the appellants forcibly and illegally evicted him from the property without following due legal process. Within six months of being dispossessed, he sued for recovery of possession under Section 6 of the Specific Relief Act, 1963, which allows a person dispossessed without due process to recover possession quickly regardless of title.

Decision Breakdown

The trial court decreed the suit in the respondent's favour, disbelieving the appellants' claim that possession had been handed over voluntarily and relying on a possession receipt. The High Court, in revision, affirmed this finding. The Supreme Court held that these were concurrent findings of fact by two courts, based on the evidence on record, and found no error or perversity warranting interference. The appeal was dismissed.

Lesson Learnt

Even a property's rightful owner cannot take the law into their own hands and forcibly evict an occupant: Section 6 of the Specific Relief Act protects even a licensee's actual possession against forcible, extra-legal dispossession, and a suit for immediate recovery of possession succeeds regardless of who ultimately holds title.

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

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