A Caretaker/Servant Can Never Acquire Interest In Property Irrespective Of His Long Possession: SC

KEY TAKEAWAY

A caretaker/servant cannot acquire an interest in a property regardless of its long possession. The caretaker or agent holds the property of the principal on behalf of the owner. He does not have any right or interest in the same property.

CASE BACKGROUND

• This case was initiated by the plaintiff, MD Zahid, respondent in the present case, who claimed that he was the caretaker of the property and that the scheduled property was assigned to him by Mirza Habibullah Khaleeli, for use and residential purposes.
• In the suit, the plaintiff stated that his peaceful possession was threatened by the presence of the defendants and their agents inside his rooms.
• Defendant moved an application under Order VII Rule 11 of the Civil Procedure Code, seeking rejection of suit proceedings as it is not maintainable due to the absence of any interest of the caretaker/servant in the subject property regardless of his long possession.
• The trial court dismissed the application and the appeal was filed before the apex court.

COURT’S OBSERVATION

• The Court observed that there were many instances where persons who were allowed to stay in the properties for a certain period of time dragged the original owners of the properties into lawsuits.
• It further observed that the courts were not justified in upholding the possession of a caretaker or a servant who was allowed to live in a house for some time.
• The Supreme Court held that a person cannot acquire title to property simply because he or she was allowed to stay in the premises for a long time.

COURT’S ORDER

• Stating that the Trial Court had committed a mistake in appreciating the pleadings made by respondent no.1-plaintiff, who was a caretaker as he could not acquire an interest in the property even if he had long possession of it, the appeal succeeds.
• The court ordered the respondent to hand over, vacate and transfer peaceful possession of the subject property within three months.

Hope you enjoyed reading this. Here are a few questions for you. Let us know your answers in the comments section-

• Can a caretaker claim ownership over the property if they have been staying there for a long time?
• Do you think this may control unnecessary adjournments by the parties in these types of litigations?