Ownership rights of immovable properties can't be decided on conjecture: SC

The Supreme Court has said that ownership rights of an immovable property cannot be decided on the basis of conjectures, surmises or mere guesswork.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and J K Maheshwari sent a batch of civil appeals related to ownership of suit lands to Uttarakhand High Court for fresh consideration on the merits, in view of several compelling circumstances, including subsequent sale and exponential increase in the value of land.

The case has been pending before the top court for more than 15 years.

"Any decision now cannot be based on conjectures and surmises or on the basis of mere guesswork. Hence, we are reluctant to give a final opinion on the matter until the court is satisfied on the basis of the entirety of documents which showcase how the ownership or possessory rights were created on the suit land," the bench said.

The case related to the ownership of 183 bigha 8 biswa, equivalent to 28.56 acres of land, in Haripur, Tehsil Haldwani, District Nainital.

On June 20, 1924, one John Vaughn, son of Charles Vaughn obtained a lease of the suit land from the erstwhile colonial rulers through the Secretary of State for India in Council for thirty years on payment of rent as agreed between the parties. One Manohar Lal purchased the suit land in 1947 and revenue entries were made in his favour. Thereafter, 'Bhumidhar' certificates were also issued and subsequently, multiple proceedings were initiated before the revenue and civil authorities.

"We are conscious of the fact that these appeals have been pending before this court for more than 15 years. In normal circumstances, we would have ventured to decide the issues ourselves but in light of the observations and dearth of appropriate records, we are constrained to hold that ownership rights in respect of an immovable property cannot be decided casually. We are actually left with no other option but to remand these appeals back to the High Court for effective adjudication on merits," the bench said.

The bench said its hands are further tied because of the fact that the ownership of certain portions of the suit land has apparently changed hands on account of subsequent sale and further the value of the suit land has increased exponentially during the entire period of litigation and the relevant parties have also done certain valuable developments.

The court asked the High Court to decide the matters at the earliest, preferably within a period of upcoming 12 months.

It favoured requisitioning of all the original records, including revenue entries as well as that of the office of Deputy Commissioner, Nainital.