A person purchases or buys a land or any property and believes that property to be his own but on the same time when that person in not living in that country where the property is situated, then any other person takes out the benefit of that property this called as property encroachment. People never know when the property can be encroached. Other person apart from title enjoys all the rights of the owner on that property if the owner is not able to look forward to his property. Also, the legal eviction is burdensome and also time-consuming.

What is encroachment?

Encroachment in simple terms is the interruption or intrusion in the property. When some other person makes a structure or takes the possession in person without the permission of the owner and has no right over the property is known as encroachment. It includes trespass to land and property encroachment. Trespass is an offence defined in IPC and in the law of Torts, which is the physical intrusion of an unauthorized person.

Property Encroachment in India

Encroachment of property is a genuine and the phenomenon is in trend in India and NRI’s are in front in such encroachment. Encroachment has no class division, from top residential colonies to the lowest like slums; one can find unlawful residents gobbling up the land which is for public use or for some private property as well.
Big cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore have fallen quarry to the illegal occupation of public land. One needs to prove the title in favor of the property in order to disprove the claim of a trespasser. Also, in order to prove, the owner is required to produce certain documents which are:

  1. Title deed
  2. Original purchase agreement of the aforesaid property
  3. electricity, water and other bills on your name
  4.  Mutation extracts

If by any chance owner’s title deed has been misplaced or destroyed, then:

  1. The owner is required to file a police complaint.
  2. Then issue a notice in at least two foremost local newspapers stating ownership of that property.
  3. The owner needs to obtain all the certified copies of such records i.e., police complaint, newspaper notices from their concerned authorities.

Rights available to the owner of an intruded Property

  1. The foremost action that any person can take is to stop that person from obtaining over your property.
  2. There are some legal ways to protect the property in the case of encroachment.
  3. Apart from this, the Indian penal code gives a person right to cause grievous hurt or even kill that person in order to protect his property. However, it can be done only in necessary circumstances or where it is justifiable.

Legal Remedies against Property encroachment

  1. The foremost step that an owner is required to take place is to file a suit against the person who had entered the property without owner’s consent and enjoys every right of the owner.
  2. An injunction order of a court is what a person is supposed to demand.
  3. Injunctions are of two types, temporary and permanent. A permanent injunction is the final order to stop the defendant from doing any act and a temporary injunction is an injunction which is passed by the court to stop the act or work temporarily.
  4. After filing of an application, the court asks the defendant to file their reply.
  5. After examination of the reply, the court may either pass the temporary injunction or the permanent injunction.

Apart from the right and ownership of the party, the owner can also claim damages which have been caused to him.

  1. Damage is a way by which a person will get the approximate cost of what he has lost.
  2. If there are any injuries, then it can be compensated through money.
  3. The person who encroached is liable to compensate the owner in the form of damages.
  4. The amount of damage will depend upon the loss which one has suffered.
  5.  The court goes through the intensity of the case and for how long the owner has been deprived of his property and accordingly amounts the damages.

Conclusion

A person suffers the most when he invests his money on property and some other person claims and enjoys every right as of the owner falsely. There are specified laws for this matter but one should take necessary steps for protecting his property like do the fencing around the property, make relations with the neighbors so that they will inform when something wrong happens, POA should be well defined if one if hiring other person on his behalf, if there is a tenant then take all the necessary details of him and make a good tenancy agreement, etc. Although, after the implementation of computerization of land records and registration in many states the conditions got better but it is still not enough, people should be careful in order to avoid land and property encroachment in India.

Read More: Illegal encroachment of land