By Advocate Tarun Gaur, Practicing in Delhi High Court
With utmost respect to the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, the recent judgment in Mahnoor Fatima Imran & Ors. v. M/s Visweswara Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd & Ors. (2025 INSC 646) raises pertinent concerns around the scope of a possession-based proceedings, the retrospective application of Suraj Lamp (2012) 1 SCC 656, and the fundamental distinction between title and possession in civil jurisprudence.
⚠️ The Core Misapplication: Retrospective Reading of Suraj Lamp
At the heart of the dispute was an unregistered agreement to sell dated 19.03.1982, on the strength of which the petitioners derived subsequent sale deeds. The Hon’ble Supreme Court, while analysing the defective title, relied heavily on the Suraj Lamp ruling to discredit the claim. However, it is respectfully submitted that Suraj Lamp was never intended to apply retrospectively.
The Supreme Court itself, in Suraj Lamp, had clarified that its ruling would apply prospectively, i.e., to prevent future transfers through GPA/SA/WILL mechanisms and not to unsettle past transactions. Applying the doctrine retrospectively to a 1982 transaction is, in my view, legally inappropriate and causes avoidable hardship to parties who relied on the then-prevailing norms.
🏚️ Title Was Defective — But That Wasn’t the Real Issue
I agree with the Single Judge and the Supreme Court on two key points:
- The No Objection Certificate (NOC) under the Urban Land Ceiling Act was cancelled and never challenged — a clear red flag.
- The suit for specific performance filed by Bhavana Society was dismissed for default and was never restored — which severely weakens the foundation of the title.
However, that does not end the matter.
🧱 Possession ≠ Title — The Central Legal Misstep
The proceedings before the Telangana High Court was not for a declaration of ownership. It was a plea to prevent dispossession — a simple prayer for preservation of possession.
In such cases, the well-settled legal position is that lawful possession alone is sufficient to seek protection from illegal dispossession — regardless of title. The Supreme Court in Krishna Ram Mahale v. Shobha Venkat Rao and numerous other judgments has upheld that even a person in settled possession — even a trespasser — cannot be evicted except by due process of law.
With due respect, the Hon’ble Supreme Court appears to have elevated the issue of faulty title beyond its relevance in a proceeding based purely on possession.
🧾 A Binding Analogy: Chandrashekhar v. Rahul Shikshan Prasarak Mandal
The Bombay High Court’s decision in Chandrashekhar Shankar Rao Kulkarni v. Rahul Shikshan Prasarak Mandal (2007 (2) Mh.L.J. 296) is instructive:
“A decree seeking perpetual injunction can be granted if the person seeking injunction proves his possession over the suit property on the date of filing of suit referable to some lawful right. It is not necessary for the court to decide the title of the plaintiff.”
This ratio strikes the right balance — that possession linked to some lawful origin (even if defective) is sufficient to seek judicial protection. The Hon’ble Supreme Court was not bound by this High Court judgment, but its reasoning, in my opinion, deserved consideration and perhaps adoption.
🧭 The Correct Way Forward?
The correct approach, in my view, would have been:
- Recognise the difference between establishing ownership and preserving possession.
- Leave the question of title and fraud to be adjudicated in appropriate civil proceedings.
- Limit the court’s intervention to deciding whether the petitioners were in settled possession, and if yes, whether they were being evicted without recourse to law.
The preservation of possession need not — and should not — hinge on proving perfect title. This is especially true when the prayer is against high-handed dispossession by the State.
📌 Conclusion
While the judgment is well-reasoned on paper and grounded in suspicion of fraud, it blurs the crucial legal line between title-based claims and possession-based protections. With respect, this decision may inadvertently dilute protections available to bona fide possessors and embolden State actors to dispossess without due process, so long as the title is murky.
Let us hope future benches take the opportunity to revisit and refine this area of law, reinforcing the distinction between possession and ownership — a cornerstone of property jurisprudence.