Krishna Ram Mahale v Shobha Venkat Rao

Facts

The case concerned a person who was in settled possession of immovable property and was sought to be dispossessed by the owner otherwise than through legal process. The owner contended that the occupant had no subsisting right to remain on the property. The question was whether settled possession could be disturbed by the owner's own act without recourse to a court.

Issues

• Whether a person in settled possession can be forcibly dispossessed by the owner without recourse to law.
• Whether the absence of a subsisting right to remain entitles the owner to take possession by self-help.

Arguments

The owner argued that the occupant had no right to remain and so could be removed. The occupant in settled possession argued that, irrespective of the merits of his right, his possession could only be disturbed through due process and not by the owner's unilateral act.

Held

The Supreme Court held that it is well settled that where a person is in settled possession of property, even on the assumption that he had no right to remain on the property, he cannot be dispossessed by the owner of the property except by recourse to law. The owner must establish his right and obtain possession through legal process; he cannot resort to self-help. The settled possessor is therefore protected against forcible dispossession.

Ratio decidendi

Settled possession of immovable property is protected by law; the owner, even with a superior right, cannot dispossess a settled possessor except by due course of law.

Significance

A leading and frequently cited authority on the protection of settled possession against self-help, complementing Lallu Yeshwant Singh and Nair Service Society. It anchors the modern law that even a true owner must litigate rather than evict forcibly, and informs the criteria for 'settled possession' later elaborated in Rame Gowda v M. Varadappa Naidu, (2004) AIR SC 4609.

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