Possession of property

Dear client,
Those who have been at the receiving end of an illegal activity, can seek relief under various provisions of the Indian law.

First, you should file a written complaint with the city’s superintendent of police (SP), where the property is located. In case the SP fails to acknowledge the complaint, a personal complaint in the court concerned can be filed.

You could also file a police complaint about the same. Keep a copy of the FIR safe for future references. The authorities will be obliged to take action under Section 145 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC).

You could seek relief under Sections 5 and 6 of the Specific Relief Act, under which a person dispossessed of his property may recover his right, by proving previous possession and subsequent illegal dispossession.

Various sections of IPC applicable in such situations
Section 441
This section defines criminal trespass.

What is criminal trespass?

“Whoever enters into or upon property in the possession of another with intent to commit an offence or to intimidate, insult or annoy any person in possession of such property, or having lawfully entered into or upon such property, unlawfully remains there with intent thereby to intimidate, insult or annoy any such person, or with intent to commit an offence, is said to commit ‘criminal trespass’.”



Section 425
This section deals with mischief.

What is mischief?

“Whoever with intent to cause, or knowing that he is likely to cause, wrongful loss or damage to the public or to any person, causes the destruction of any property, or any such change in any property or in the situation thereof destroys or diminishes its value or utility, or affects it injuriously, commits ‘mischief’.”



Section 420
This section deals with cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property.

What is cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property?

“Whoever cheats and thereby dishonestly induces the person de­ceived to deliver any property to any person, or to make, alter or destroy the whole or any part of a valuable security, or anything which is signed or sealed, and which is capable of being converted into a valuable security, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.”



Section 442
This section deals with house trespass.

What is house trespass?

“Whoever commits criminal trespass by enter­ing into or remaining in any building, tent or vessel used as a human dwelling or any building used as a place for worship, or as a place for the custody of property, is said to commit ‘house-trespass’.”



Section 503
This section deals with criminal intimidation.

What is criminal intimidation?

“Whoever threatens another with any injury to his person, reputation or property, or to the person or reputation of any one in whom that person is interested, with intent to cause alarm to that person, or to cause that person to do any act which he is not legally bound to do, or to omit to do any act which that person is legally entitled to do, as the means of avoiding the execution of such threat, commits criminal intimidation.”

Dear Client,
On the basis of a Sale Agreement, a purchaser cannot take possession of the property from a tenant until and unless a Sale Deed is executed on receipt of full consideration value from the purchaser and registered before the Registering Authority. Possession of property comes after registration of the property in favor of the purchaser and not before that. An agreement to sell alone did not confer the title of the property to the purchaser. And secondly, without being the owner of the property, the purchaser leased out it to another person and in both cases without the knowledge of the original property owner. Thus, such an act or conduct is a breach of contract or Agreement to Sell, and accordingly, you can cancel or revoke the Agreement to Sell forfeiting the token money if any paid as advance by the purchaser and in case of refusal by the purchaser to deliver back the vacant possession of the property to you, you need to serve a legal notice to your prospective purchaser and file a civil suit before the Civil Court praying for an eviction order to evict the purchaser and his tenant from your property. Reach out to an Advocate for guidance and steps.