Someone Has Occupied Your Property: Civil and Criminal Remedies

What should you do in the first 48 hours?

Go to the property with a witness, not alone and not with a crowd. Photograph and video the locks, any new construction, signboards, vehicles and the people present, with the date visible on the phone. Do not break locks, threaten anyone or remove belongings: that can turn you into the accused and give the occupier a complaint of their own.

Then call 112 if there is an ongoing break-in or threat, and in any event give a written complaint to the SHO of the local police station the same day, describing the property, your title, when you last had possession and what you found. Get a receipt or diary number. A complaint made immediately is the single most useful piece of evidence later, in both the criminal case and a section 6 suit, because it fixes the date of dispossession.

Finally, collect your title papers and proof of possession (electricity bills, property tax receipts, society maintenance receipts, the last time you or your tenant used the property) and get an advocate to look at them before you send any notice. The date you lost possession decides which civil remedy is open to you, and the clock runs from that day.

Is occupying someone else's property a crime?

Yes, when the entry or continued stay is with intent to commit an offence or to intimidate, insult or annoy the person in possession. Section 329 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 (the old sections 441 and 448 IPC) defines criminal trespass and house-trespass. Criminal trespass carries up to three months, or fine, or both; house-trespass, which is trespass into a building used as a dwelling or for storing property, carries up to one year, or fine, or both. Aggravated forms, such as trespass with preparation for hurt, carry more.

Other offences often travel with an illegal occupation. A forged sale deed, GPA or rent agreement brings in forgery (section 336 BNS) and using a forged document as genuine (section 340); selling your plot to a third party brings in cheating (section 318); threats to you or your caretaker are criminal intimidation (section 351). Where a gang is involved in repeated land grabbing, the police may look at heavier provisions.

The honest limit is this: the criminal case punishes the occupier, but a magistrate trying a trespass case does not hand you back the keys. Possession is restored in a civil court, or through a quick police intervention if you act while the trespass is fresh. Most owners need both tracks running together.

Getting the police to register and act on your complaint

Police stations in Delhi NCR often call property occupations 'civil disputes' and send people away. This sequence usually gets past that.

1. Written complaint to the SHO

   Describe the property, attach a copy of your title document and proof of recent possession, and state the date of the trespass. Ask for registration of an FIR under section 173 BNSS for criminal trespass and any forgery or threats. Keep the receipt.

2. Escalate to the DCP or SP

   If the SHO does not act within a reasonable time, send the complaint to the DCP (Delhi) or the Superintendent of Police or Commissionerate (Noida and Ghaziabad) under section 173(4) BNSS, by post and email, with the earlier receipt.

3. Online complaint and land portals

   Delhi Police and UP Police accept online complaints. In UP, complaints about land grabbing can also be lodged on the state's grievance portals, which are monitored by the district administration.

4. Application to the magistrate

   If the police still do not register an FIR, apply to the magistrate under section 175(3) BNSS asking for a direction to investigate, or file a private complaint under section 223 BNSS. Our post on police refusing to register an FIR explains both routes.

5. Keep the civil case moving

   Do not wait for the criminal case before filing the civil suit. The two are independent, and delay in the civil court is what lets an occupier settle in.

For offences punishable with three to seven years, the police may hold a preliminary enquiry for up to 14 days under section 173(3) BNSS before registering the FIR. Simple trespass is below that range, but a complaint that includes forgery or cheating may be put through an enquiry first. Give the IO your documents during it.

What is a section 6 suit, and why the six months matter

Section 6 of the Specific Relief Act 1963 lets a person who has been dispossessed of immovable property without consent, otherwise than in due course of law, sue to recover possession without proving title. The court asks only two questions: were you in possession, and were you dispossessed without due process within the last six months? If yes, possession is restored, even against the true owner.

The suit must be filed within six months of the date of dispossession. It cannot be filed against the Government. No appeal lies from the order or decree, and no review is allowed, though a revision to the High Court is available. The defendant, if he really owns the property, can still file his own suit on title later. That is the trade-off: speed in exchange for leaving title for another day.

This is why the date in your police complaint matters so much. If your caretaker or a neighbour can confirm that you, or your tenant, were using the flat until a particular week, and you complained to the SHO the day you found the lock changed, the section 6 suit is often the fastest civil route available. If the six months have gone, it is lost, and you must prove your title in a regular suit.

Suit for possession based on title, with mesne profits

After six months, or where you were never in physical possession (for example, a plot you bought but never fenced), the remedy is a suit for recovery of possession under section 5 of the Specific Relief Act, read with the Code of Civil Procedure. You prove your title through the chain of documents, and you claim possession, mesne profits (compensation for the period the occupier has been using your property, under section 2(12) and Order 20 Rule 12 CPC) and a permanent injunction.

The limitation period is 12 years. Article 64 of the Limitation Act covers suits based on previous possession, running from the date of dispossession; Article 65 covers suits based on title, running from the date the occupier's possession became adverse to you. In a title suit, the burden of proving adverse possession for the full 12 years is on the occupier, and courts expect clear evidence of open, continuous and hostile possession to the owner's knowledge.

If the occupier disputes your title (for example, by producing a sale deed or GPA in his own favour), add a prayer for declaration of title and, where needed, cancellation of his document under section 31 of the Specific Relief Act. A suit for bare possession or injunction is not enough when title itself is under a cloud. Court fee for these suits depends on the market value of the property; see our note on court fee and suit valuation in Delhi.

Remedies compared: which one fits your situation

Most cases use two or three of these together. The table shows what each one gives and what it cannot do.

Can you throw the occupier out yourself?

Only in a narrow situation, and it is rarely worth the risk. The law allows a true owner to resist and remove a trespasser using no more force than necessary while the trespass is still fresh, before the trespasser's possession has become settled. Once the occupier has been in effective, undisturbed and open possession for a meaningful period, to the owner's knowledge, even the owner must go through the court. The Supreme Court explained this distinction in Rame Gowda v M. Varadappa Naidu (2004).

In practice, self-help goes wrong in predictable ways. A scuffle produces cross-FIRs, and the owner ends up applying for bail. The occupier files a section 6 suit of his own, saying he was dispossessed without due process, and wins it. Cutting electricity or water, removing doors or dumping belongings invites complaints of theft, mischief and criminal intimidation. Police who were sympathetic to the owner become neutral once both sides have complaints.

When Advocate B.K. Singh is called the morning an owner finds a fresh lock on a vacant flat, the advice is usually the same: do not touch the lock; get the police there today, record what they see, and file the civil case with an application for interim relief within days. A fresh trespass caught early is the easiest kind to undo, and it stays easy only if the owner does nothing the other side can use.

Section 164 BNSS: when the dispute threatens a breach of the peace

Where a dispute over land or a building is likely to cause a breach of the peace, the executive magistrate (in Delhi usually the SDM, in UP the SDM or City Magistrate) can start proceedings under section 164 BNSS, which replaced section 145 CrPC. The magistrate asks the parties to state their claims about actual possession, hears them, and declares who is in actual possession. A party forcibly and wrongfully dispossessed within two months before the police report reached the magistrate is treated as being in possession.

If the magistrate cannot decide who is in possession, or in an emergency, the property can be attached under section 165 BNSS and a receiver appointed until a civil court decides. These proceedings are useful where both sides are bringing men to the site and the police want a formal order to keep the peace.

They are not a substitute for a civil suit. The magistrate's order does not decide ownership, and it gives way to a civil court decree. If you are the owner, file the civil suit as well and tell the magistrate about it; a pending civil suit with interim orders is often a reason for the magistrate to stay his hand.

Interim relief: stopping the occupier from building, selling or digging in

A possession suit can take years. The real fight in the first months is over interim relief. Under Order 39 Rules 1 and 2 CPC, the court can restrain the occupier from raising construction, changing the nature of the property, creating third-party rights or parting with possession to someone else while the suit is pending. If the property is being wasted or there is a real risk of violence, the court can appoint a receiver under Order 40.

Courts look at prima facie title and possession, the balance of convenience and whether the harm can be compensated in money. An owner who comes within weeks, with clean title papers, photographs and an immediate police complaint, has a much better chance of a status quo or restraint order than one who waited a year. Ask also for a local commissioner under Order 26 Rule 9 to visit and record the site as it stands, so that later construction can be proved.

In Delhi, where the occupier is building fast, an application for urgent listing on the day of filing is normal; the steps are explained in our post on injunction suits to stop construction. Where the occupier might rush to court first, a caveat under section 148A CPC ensures you are heard before any order; see caveat petitions.

Adverse possession and the 12-year clock

Adverse possession is the occupier's main defence, and the main reason not to wait. If a person has been in open, continuous and hostile possession of your property for 12 years (30 years against the Government) to your knowledge, your right to recover possession is extinguished under section 27 of the Limitation Act, and the occupier's possession matures into title. The Supreme Court held in 2019 that a person who has perfected title by adverse possession can even sue to protect it.

Courts do not give this away easily. Permissive possession, as a licensee, tenant, caretaker or family member allowed to stay, is not adverse, however long it lasts, unless the occupier clearly and openly denies the owner's title and the owner knows of it. So the family member who was 'allowed to stay' usually cannot claim adverse possession merely by staying on; but if he starts telling the electricity company, the society and the municipal office that he is the owner, and you do nothing, the hostile period may have begun.

Send a written demand to vacate as soon as an occupier starts asserting ownership, and file the suit well inside 12 years. A legal notice does not stop limitation running, but it records the date and the occupier's stand; our post on sending a legal notice before a suit covers what to put in it.

Who is the occupier? The answer changes the remedy

A stranger who broke in is a trespasser, and all the remedies above apply. A tenant whose lease has ended is not a trespasser in the same sense; eviction follows the Delhi Rent Control Act or the Transfer of Property Act, and police will rarely intervene. A licensee, such as a caretaker, employee, relative or friend allowed to stay without paying rent, has no interest in the property once the licence is revoked, and a suit for possession and mesne profits after a notice revoking the licence is the usual route.

A co-owner is different again. A brother in possession of the family house is in possession on behalf of all co-owners, so the remedy is usually partition, not eviction; see partition suits for ancestral and joint property. Elderly parents whose children or relatives refuse to leave have a separate and faster remedy before the Maintenance Tribunal under the Senior Citizens Act 2007, explained in maintenance and eviction under the Senior Citizens Act.

A purchaser holding a GPA, agreement to sell and Will from someone in your chain, or from you, may claim a right to stay. Those documents do not convey title, but they may support a defence of part performance in some cases; see GPA, agreement and Will sales before you decide how to frame the suit.

Documents to gather before you file

Vacant plots, NRI owners and unauthorised colonies

Vacant plots on the edges of Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad are the most common targets, especially where the owner lives abroad or in another city. Fence the plot, put up a board with your name and contact number, pay the authority's dues on time, and have someone visit and photograph it every few months. If you live abroad, give a registered power of attorney to a trusted person so that someone can file a complaint and sign a suit quickly.

In unauthorised colonies in Delhi, title often rests on GPA, agreement and Will chains, and the occupier may hold a competing set of the same papers. Courts will look at which chain is genuine, who has possession, and documents such as the PM-UDAY conveyance deed or authorisation slip where available. In these cases the civil suit almost always needs a declaration prayer, and the evidence of long possession matters as much as the paper.

Leasehold property of the DDA, Noida Authority or GDA adds one more party. Tell the authority in writing that the property has been occupied, because some authorities treat unauthorised occupation or construction as a breach of the lease conditions, and you do not want the lessor's action to land on you.

Mistakes owners make

• Waiting to 'sort it out'. Every month of delay weakens interim relief, can close the six-month section 6 window and moves the occupier toward settled possession.
• Using force or cutting supplies. It turns the owner into the accused and gives the occupier his own section 6 suit.
• Filing a bare injunction suit when title is disputed. If the occupier holds a competing deed, ask for declaration and possession, not only an injunction.
• Relying only on the FIR. The criminal case punishes but does not restore possession. Run the civil suit in parallel.
• Accepting money to 'settle' without paperwork. Any settlement should be recorded before the court or in a written agreement with a vacating date and consequences.
• Ignoring the society or authority. Their records, guards' registers and complaint books are often the best independent evidence of possession.

What to do this week

• Visit with a witness and record the site on video, with dates
• Give a written complaint to the SHO and keep the receipt
• Escalate to the DCP or Commissionerate by email if the police do not act
• Work out the exact date you last had possession, and who can prove it
• Collect title, mutation, tax, bill and society documents
• Have an advocate decide between a section 6 suit and a title suit
• File for interim relief and a local commissioner without waiting for the FIR
• Write to the society or authority recording the occupation

How long it takes and where to get help

A section 6 suit is meant to be quick and is often decided far faster than a title suit, though listing in busy courts still takes time. A title suit for possession, with evidence and cross-examination, can take years in the district courts, which is why the interim order in the first few months matters so much. Court fee depends on the value of the property, and fees are discussed at the first meeting and agreed in writing, stage by stage.

In the property cases that reach Advocate B.K. Singh's office, the papers that most often decide the first hearing are the earliest police complaint, the last electricity bill and a neighbour or guard who can say when the owner was last there. Our civil law practice runs possession suits and injunctions, our criminal law practice handles the trespass and forgery side, and the civil and property lawyer in Delhi page explains how these cases run in the district courts.

If someone has occupied your property and you want an advocate to tell you which remedy is still open and by when, the team of Advocate B.K. Singh at B.K. Singh & Associates can review the papers; use the online enquiry form.