All you want to know about adverse posession of property

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Adverse possession arises when a person who owns a particular property, allows a trespasser to occupy that property as a result of negligence. All trespassers must be evicted within a statutory period of limitation. If an owner fails to remove a trespasser within the stipulated period, he/she will lose all ownership rights. This process is known as adverse possession. According to Section 65 of the Limitation Act 1963, the statutory period of limitation that is allowed for the possession of immovable property or any interest therein is 12 years (in the case of private property). For Government, State or public property, the statutory period is 30 years from the date the trespasser occupies the property. There are some extenuating circumstances wherein the limitation period is not taken into account when the statutory period is being calculated. For example, if there is pending litigation between the owner and the claimant; if the owner is not of a sound mind, is a minor, or if the owner is in the armed forces. The following are some of the essentials required to acquire title over a property through adverse possession: 1. Continuity: The occupation of the property by the trespasser must be uninterrupted for the whole statutory period. If this condition is not satisfied, then the claimant has no right in a court of law. 2. Hostile possession: Apart from continuity, the claimant is required to have occupied the property for the entire duration, equipped with the knowledge that he or she has absolutely ‘no rights to the property’. The intention of the claimant must be to trespass in order to occupy the property by adverse possession against the true owner. 3. Actual possession: The process of adverse possession must manifest itself in some form of actual possession, such as erecting a shed or structure, constructing a house, grazing cattle, farming or any other manner of agriculture or fencing of the property. This process must be continued through the whole statutory period of limitation. 4. Exclusive possession: The claimant is required to be the only one in possession of the property, as against the right and title of either the true owner or other claimants. This means that the trespasser must develop the land, construct a house or fence the property to indicate ‘exclusive possession’. It must not be token possessed; i.e., the trespasser must possess it in person. Once the statutory period expires, the true owner will relinquish all legal rights over the property, and the claimant can deal with the aforementioned property in any manner that he or she requires.