You can claim defence of adverse possession as part of neighbour land was in your open , uninterrupted, continuous possession for 12 years
2) however amicable settlement is best option
3) you can move your compound wall 1.5 feet into your property
Land dispute
Hello, My father constructed a house 20 years ago. Now, 1.5ft ×40ft of neighbours land was used as it wasnt used by them and with their permission. (I know mutual understanding doesnt really stand legally). Now my neighbour's father with whom we can we had an understanding passed away and now his son wants to remodel the house in their property and wants the 1.5ft ×40ft that comes under our property and creating nuisance. We tried to reason and offered money at current market prices but he wants just his land and behaving very rudely. He is threatening to destroy the compound wall that falls into his property. What are our options at this point? The fact that they didnt raise any question in last 20 years has any validity on our side if we take matters to court? Or should we just concede and move our compound wall 1.5fr into our propertt?
Asked 6 years ago in Property Law
Religion: Hindu
23 Answers
See he cannot destroy the wall as the land even if don't consider mutual understanding it is in your adverse possession. Yes we have strong ground to contest as we have un obstructed possession from last 20 years so now we have right to adverse possession of property.
To add more details, the property is in Renigunta, Andhra Pradesh, India. Please advise. Also to be clear, I have no intention of taking others land and it was something that happened 20 years ago with mutual understanding. I just dont want other's to destroy my priority without my consent and I would like to know what are my rights in this situation.
Asked 6 years ago
Well, that his father`s gratitude. Now if you want to continue your hostile possession than call the police if next time he crates nuisance. Matter is civil in nature, let them approach court where you can claim your ownership on the basis of adverse possession.
See they cannot destroy your wall neither they can forcefully enter you can wait let them file a suit you can contest same.
in such a case you should move your compound wall into your property as neighbour is not willing to sell portion of land in your possession
if he is not ready to settle then you need to approach court. you have possession of the same for many years may be in your favour but you will also incur legal expenses. you can decide the same as per your interests
Only issue in moving the wall 1.5ft into our land is there is a septic tank under that 1.5ft and that also has to be changed/repaired causing unnecessary hassles for 5 tenants living in our building. I can still get it done but my major concern is he is threating to destroy the wall which I didnt like and no matter how politely I was, he is very unreasonable. So, 1. what are his options if i dont agree with moving the wall? 2. Can he really destroy the wall without my consent or a legal notice to me? 3. If he did destroy it without a notice, would that be in my favour when I file a case after that for destruction of private property? 4. If he were to sell his 60 sq.ft of land, or if I had to do the septic tank work, either way I believe I have an expenditure of 2-3 lakhs.. would the court expenses be more than that?
Asked 6 years ago
1. He has to.go to court police shall also not help as civil dispute.
2.No he cannot destroy the wall you can file police complaint of they try to disturb the wall.
3 Yes you can file a police complaint as in your possession and he cannot destroy the wall.
4.No court expenses shall not be more then that.
if he destroys the same you can file police complaint as it will be illegal. you take the injunction from court to stay his demolition of wall before its demolition. it depend on lawyer fees but i dont think it should be more that that for trial court.
1) neighbour would need court orders to demolish the compound will
2) he cannot forcibly demolish the compound wall
3)if he takes law into your hand file police complaint of criminal trespass against him under section 441 of IPC
4) legal fees vary depending upon the lawyer engaged by you
As your neighbour has not raised any dispute for the last 20 years, you can claim the said land by way of law of adverse possession.
It is a trite law that a owner may lose ownership over his/her property, if someone else is living there for an uninterrupted period of 12 years and claims ownership through adverse possession.
In that case, you can file suit for declaration and injunction in civil court in order to restrain your neighbour from breaking the compound wall.
If he destroy the wall, act of mischief and criminal offense.
Without court order, his any action will be criminal offense. He cannot destroy.
Litigation will be costly for him not you.
1. He will have to approach court and seek appropriate orders in order to demolish the wall.
2. No. He cannot. I cannot even demolish the volume and after serving a legal notice as he would require specific court orders for the same.
3.You can file a police complaint against him for the offence of trespassing.
4. Legal fees depends from lawyer to lawyer, but it would not be more than the cost of replacing the septic tank or buying the property from him.
1. Your neighbour has the right to claim his share of the land occupied by you without any legal document/deed.
2. However, yopu can also claim adverse possession of the said land which is under your occupation for more than the required period of 12 years for claiming adverse possession as per law.
3. This case of adverse possession followed by an interim application for maintaining status quo till the matter is disposed of, can be dgragged for years to compel your neighbour to come to the discussion table.
4. It might be prudent on your part to shift your said wall back to your land to settle the matter peacefully avoiding Court cases.
1. You are not the title holder of the land whereupon your wall is standing.
2. However, you can claim adverse possession on the said property since you are in possession of the said land against the explicit objection of its owner for a period of more than 12 years as explained in my earlier post.
1. File a petition claiming adverse possession as suggested in my earlier post. Also lodge a police complaint and a petition u/o 39 r 1 & 2 praying for an order restraining your neighbour in breaking the wall till the case is disposed of.
2. No, he can not take law in to his hand and demolish your wall without court order.
3. That will give rise to a criminal case but it will not strengthen your claim of ownership of the land. Lodge a poloce complaint and take restrain order now it self.
4. The Court expenses might be more than that amount of the case lingers for ages and your neighbours contest the case fittingly.
Dear Sir,
- You can move to court with Civil suit under Order 39 Rule 1 & 2 of Civil Procedure Code 1908 for Temporary and Permanent Injunction to stop him with any immediate action against you physically. Also, file Declaratory Suit with reference to claim the ownership-based against other party w.r.t Limitation Ac 1963.
- Status Quo can be requested to the respective court until the matter is not resolved by the court.
- If needed you can send the legal notice to other parties to restrain from any illegal activity which shall attract penalty considered as trespass to the property as you are already in ownership of the property.
- Feel free to connect for any further assistance.
Regards
Vivek Arya.
If you want to fight back legally, you can file a caveat before court and file a permanent injunction suit against your neighbor on this stating that it was orally allowed by his deceased father twenty years ago and also it is in your possession and enjoyment for over 12 years, by law of adverse possession the property title is conferred on you.
If you do not want to stretch the issue legally for years then you arrive at a compromise, but you can send clear indication that if he is not willing to accept the money for the encroached portion then you will meet him in court, let the court decide after plenty of years.
Discuss with your advocate and proceed.
You have no rights legally in that, however since it has been in your possession for over 20 years and also it was given by his father , reclaiming it back in the form of land itself by causing damage to your existing structure is totally unjustified, especially when you are ready and willing to compensate in terms of money for that, hence it is advised that you drag him to civil court with a permanent injunction suit and also declaration of your title perfecting adverse possession as suggested earlier.
1. You file a caveat first and then a permanent injunction suit along with a prayer for declaration of your title and an application for interim injunction as an interim relief restraining him from proceeding in the manner he currently threatens to destroy your wall other than by due process of law.
2. You obtain an interim injunction against him immediately instead of wasting anymore time.
3. Yes you can lodge a criminal complaint but you may have to suffer the loss until then even if he is punished.
4. No the court expenses wont be more than that.
It may not be even one tenth of that.
You can move an application of temporary injunction.
Best option is settle dispute amicably.
1. he has to file a suit for declaration to declare him the owner of the portion over which you have constructed the compound wall
2. no, he cannot do that without due process of law
3. if he destroys the wall, then you have a cause of action against him, civil as well as criminal
4. court expenses are uncertain
since the portion under the compound wall has been with you for last more than 20 years, you can raise the plea of adverse possession if at all he files a suit against you
Dear sir
Make recording of him talking to you so badly and file a police complaint for threat given tinymu by him. And in that write the statement that you agree to move the wall in your property but you want a specific time as the work will affect many families living in your property.
Even after that he destroys the wall by himself then you can file a complaint in court for mischief done to your property under section 427 IPC against you and also file a civil suit for recovery of your damages.
