Definition
Recovery of property.
Suit to recover possession of immovable property.
Statutory Definition
Specific Relief Act.
Etymology & Origin
Rooted in the fundamental common law right to regain physical control ('possession') over real estate from which one has been wrongfully ousted.
Full Legal Analysis
A Suit for Possession is a primary civil remedy used to recover the physical control and occupation of immovable property (land, house, apartment) from someone who is occupying it illegally, such as a trespasser or a tenant whose lease has expired.
Indian law provides two distinct pathways for this under the Specific Relief Act based on whether the plaintiff is relying on their legal title (ownership) or merely their previous peaceful possession.
Section 6 represents a crucial legal philosophy in India: the law abhors people taking the law into their own hands. Even a true owner cannot use physical force to evict a trespasser who has settled there; they must use the courts.
The Supreme Court reinforced that a person in peaceful possession has a right to retain it against the whole world except the true owner, and if dispossessed by force, can seek recovery under Section 6 even against the true owner.
Advocates must choose the correct section carefully. Filing a lengthy title suit under Section 5 when a quick Section 6 remedy for forceful eviction was available is a common strategic error.
This Term in Indian Statutes
Specific Relief Act, 1963, 1963
"Suit by person dispossessed of immovable property without due course of law."
The fast-track remedy against illegal, forceful eviction regardless of title.
