Orissa High Court: Dr A.K. Rath, J. dismissed an appeal seeking to reverse a judgment relating to suit for declaration.
In the present facts of the case, the suit property was jointly recorded in the names of three cousin brothers, wherein the Odisha Record of Rights (ROR) had been published. The partition of the said property was effected amongst the members of the joint family by a registered partition deed and was allotted to one of the three cousin brothers, Baidhar. Due to the untimely death of the wife and son of Baidhar, he resided in the property with the plaintiff and out of love and affection, Baidhar executed a will in favour of the plaintiff. After the demise of Baidhar, the plaintiff became the owner in possession of the suit property. Erroneously, the R.O.R recorded jointly in the name of both the parties and thus, the plaintiff filed an application for declaration of suit. The Learned trial court dismissed the suit holding that the will was not probated and the plaintiff had not acquired by way of adverse possession. In the appeal proceedings, the appellate court also held that the plaintiff had failed to prove that he has perfected title by way of adverse possession and during the pendency of the appeal proceedings both the plaintiff and the respondent expired due to which their legal representatives had substituted.
During the present matter, the counsel representing the appellants, Sarojananda Mishra submitted that the plaintiff is in possession of the suit land for more than twelve years peacefully and as a result has perfected title by way of adverse possession.
The advocate representing the respondents, Stayabadi Mantry, objected to the same and submitted that the adverse possession is a mixed question of law and fact. Thus, the courts had rightly rejected the claim of the plaintiff. He placed reliance on the case of Nabin Chandra Mohanta v. State of Orissa, R.S.A. No. 396 of 2004 wherein the Court held that, “Even if the plaintiff is found to be in adverse possession, it cannot seek a declaration to the effect that such adverse possession has matured into ownership. Only if proceedings are filed against the appellant and the appellant is arrayed as defendant that it can use this adverse possession as a shield/defence”.
The present Bench upon perusal of the facts and the records stated that even if the plaintiffs are found to be in adverse possession, they cannot seek a declaration for the same. The Court also stated that the mere possession of suit property for a long period of time is not sufficient to declare the plaintiff has perfected the title by way of adverse possession unless the classical requirements of adverse possession are met and the question of adverse possession not only involves question of law but also involves question of fact. [Bairagi Charan Mohapatra v. Surendra Mohapatra, 2019 SCC OnLine Ori 303, decided on 01-08-2019]
