SC slams govt,asks House to revisit adverse land law

“Adverse possession allows a trespasser — a person guilty of a tort,or even a crime,in the eyes of law — to gain legal title to land which he has illegally possessed for 12 years. How 12 years of illegality can suddenly be converted to legal title is,logically and morally speaking,baffling. This outmoded law essentially asks the judiciary to place its stamp of approval upon conduct that the ordinary Indian citizen would find reprehensible. The doctrine of adverse possession has troubled a great many legal minds. We are clearly of the opinion that time has come for change,” Justice Bhandari,who wrote the judgment,said.

Worse still,the court said,the law is developing a “very dangerous trend” with the “State,which is in charge of protection of life,liberty and property of the people itself grabbing land and property of its own citizens under the banner of adverse possession”.

The apex court exposed the Haryana government’s claim of ownership of eight biswas of land in Hidayatpur Chhavni village as false.

The government through the Police Commissioner,Gurgaon,had claimed ownership of the land saying it had occupied it for 55 years. But revenue records showed otherwise and found that the land belonged to private persons.

Slapping a fine of Rs 50,000 on the state government,the Bench accused it of “unnecessarily wasting the time of the court and demonstrating its evil design of grabbing the properties of lawful owners in a clandestine manner”.

“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,is a testament to the absurdity of the law and a black mark upon the justice system’s 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,” Justice Bhandari observed.

“If the protectors of law become the grabbers of the property (land and building),then,people will be left with no protection and there would be a total anarchy in the entire country,” the judgment said.

The court said that in case Parliament opts to retain the law,some “semblance of justice” will be introduced if the adverse possessor is asked to compensate the actual owners as per the prevalent market rate of the land or property in question.