How to Remove an Illegal Occupant From Your Property in Delhi

First question: who exactly is in your property?

The law treats occupants very differently depending on how they got in. A stranger who broke the lock is a trespasser. A caretaker, servant or relative you let in is usually a licensee, whose right to stay ends when you revoke the licence. A tenant whose lease has ended has protections under rent law or the Transfer of Property Act. A person who paid you or a relative money under an agreement to sell may claim a right to stay under part performance. And a co-owner, such as a brother in an inherited house, is not an illegal occupant at all; that dispute is a partition matter.

Getting this wrong wastes years. A possession suit that calls a tenant a trespasser, or a rent petition filed against a licensee, can be dismissed on that ground alone. So before anything else, write down how the person came to occupy the property, whether any money was paid, what papers exist and when you last had control of the premises.

If the occupant is a family member claiming a share in ancestral or inherited property, read our guide on filing a partition suit in Delhi first. If the occupant claims ownership by long possession, our guide on adverse possession explains why such claims succeed far less often than people fear.

Which route fits which occupant

Can the police remove an illegal occupant?

Yes, but only in a narrow window. Criminal trespass and house-trespass are offences under Section 329 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 (old Sections 441, 442, 447 and 448 IPC). If someone has broken in within the last few hours or days and you can show the property was in your possession, the local police can register an FIR, remove the trespasser and seal or restore the premises. Speed decides this. Call 112, go to the police station with your title papers and proof that you were in possession, such as electricity bills, society records and photographs.

Once the occupant has been there for weeks, has moved in furniture and perhaps produced some document, the police almost always treat it as a civil dispute and tell you to go to court. They are not allowed to decide title. If the occupant has forged papers, an FIR for forgery and cheating may still be registered, and if the police refuse, you can approach the DCP, then the magistrate under Section 175(3) BNSS (old Section 156(3) CrPC). Our page on police inaction in Delhi explains those steps.

Where the dispute over possession threatens a breach of the peace, an Executive Magistrate can act under Section 164 of the BNSS (old Section 145 CrPC), attach the property and decide who was in actual possession. These proceedings are quick but limited: they decide possession for the time being, not ownership, and are subject to the civil court's decision.

A criminal case does not, by itself, put you back in possession. Even when an FIR is registered, most owners still need a civil decree to get the property back for good.

Can you throw the occupant out yourself?

This is the question owners ask most, and the honest answer is: only if the trespass is fresh and you are resisting it then and there. The Supreme Court in Rame Gowda v. M. Varadappa Naidu (2004) held that even a true owner cannot forcibly dispossess a person in settled possession; he must go to court. But an owner who finds a trespasser in the act, or very soon after, may use reasonable force to remove him, because the trespasser's possession is not yet settled.

What counts as 'settled' depends on facts: how long the occupant has been there, whether you knew and did nothing, whether he has moved in a family, taken an electricity connection or paid property tax. A few days of occupation that you objected to at once is unlikely to be settled. Several months of open occupation probably is.

Trespasser eviction by self-help beyond that point is risky. Changing locks while the occupant is out, cutting water or electricity, or bringing a group of people to remove belongings can lead to an FIR against you for criminal trespass, intimidation or worse, and the civil court may then protect the occupant's possession by an injunction against you. Many owners have turned a strong case into a weak one this way.

The law behind a possession suit

The six-month route: a suit under Section 6

If you were in possession and someone took it from you without your consent and without a court order, Section 6 of the Specific Relief Act lets you sue to get it back within six months. You do not have to prove you own the property, only that you were in possession and were dispossessed unlawfully. The court decides only that question, which makes the suit narrower and usually faster than a title suit.

Two features make it attractive. The occupant cannot defend by claiming better title; that is for a separate suit. And the decree cannot be appealed, though a revision or Article 227 petition may be filed in the High Court in a case of clear error. The catch is the strict six-month limit, counted from the date of dispossession. Owners who spend those months on police complaints and panchayat lose this route.

A Section 6 suit is also open to someone who is not the owner but was in lawful possession, such as a tenant thrown out by a landlord without a decree. For owners, it is mainly useful when the trespass was recent and you can prove your possession just before it with bills, photographs, society records or neighbours.

The possession suit based on title

Where six months have passed, or the facts are more complicated, the remedy is a regular possession suit: a civil suit for recovery of possession based on your title, with a claim for mesne profits and usually a permanent injunction. You prove your ownership, show that the defendant has no right to be there, and ask for a decree directing him to hand over vacant possession.

The defendant will usually raise some claim: that he bought the property on an agreement or GPA, that he is a tenant, that he has been in possession for over twelve years, or that the property is joint family property. Each claim has a known answer if your papers are in order. A GPA or agreement-based 'sale' does not pass title after Suraj Lamp and Industries v. State of Haryana (2011). Adverse possession requires open, hostile, continuous possession for twelve years with the owner's knowledge, and courts insist on strict proof.

Ask for mesne profits in the same suit: the money the occupant earned or ought to have paid for using your property, from the date of wrongful occupation until he leaves. Our guide on mesne profits explains how they are calculated. Where the defendant admits the key facts, such as the tenancy and its termination, you can ask for an early decree on admission under Order 12 Rule 6 of the CPC rather than waiting for full trial.

When Advocate B.K. Singh drafts a possession suit, he includes a prayer restraining the occupant from parting with possession or creating third-party rights, because illegal occupants often try to sublet or 'sell' to someone else once a case is filed. Without that order, you may find a new family in the property and have to start again against them.

Caretakers, servants and relatives who will not leave

The most common Delhi case is not a stranger; it is someone the owner let in. A caretaker in a Greater Kailash house while the family is abroad, a cousin given the ground floor 'until he finds a job', a domestic help allowed a servant quarter. The Supreme Court in Maria Margarida Sequeira Fernandes v. Erasmo Jack de Sequeira (2012) made it clear that a caretaker, servant or agent holds possession on the owner's behalf and acquires no independent right, however long he stays.

The procedure is to revoke the licence in writing: a notice telling the occupant his permission is withdrawn and asking him to vacate within a reasonable time, often 15 to 30 days. After that, his continued stay is unauthorised and you can sue for possession or a mandatory injunction directing him to vacate, with damages for use and occupation. Courts in Delhi deal with such suits more briskly where the licence is clear, but they still take time.

Where the property belongs to a senior citizen and the occupants are children or relatives, there is an extra route. Delhi's rules under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act 2007 allow a senior citizen to apply to the District Magistrate (Deputy Commissioner) of the district for eviction of a son, daughter or legal heir from their property. The process is administrative and can be faster than a suit, though the order can be challenged by writ in the High Court. A daughter-in-law's claim to a shared household under the Domestic Violence Act may complicate this, and courts balance the two.

Tenants who stay on after the lease ends

A tenant who stops paying or overstays is not a trespasser in the ordinary sense, and the route depends on the rent. If the rent is up to Rs 3,500 a month, the premises fall under the Delhi Rent Control Act 1958, and eviction is only on the grounds listed in Section 14, decided by the Rent Controller. Our guide on evicting a tenant for personal need covers the summary procedure.

If the rent is higher, the Rent Act does not apply. You terminate the tenancy by a notice under Section 106 of the Transfer of Property Act (15 days for a month-to-month tenancy, unless the lease says otherwise) and then file a suit for possession and mesne profits. For shops and offices used for business, the suit may be a commercial suit; our page on commercial tenancy and mesne profits suits explains when.

Do not cut services or lock out a tenant. Even a tenant in default cannot be evicted without a decree, and self-help gives him a Section 6 suit against you.

Step by step: removing an illegal occupant through the courts

1. Document the situation now

   Photograph and video the property, note the date you discovered the occupation, and get neighbours' or the RWA's names who can confirm it. Get a copy of the electricity and water connection records.

2. Complain to the police in writing

   Even if the police will not evict, a written complaint with a diary number records the date and your objection. If the trespass is fresh, insist on immediate action.

3. Send a legal notice

   For a licensee or tenant, revoke the licence or terminate the tenancy. For a trespasser, a notice demanding he vacate and pay damages puts your position on record.

4. File the right suit

   File a Section 6 suit (within six months) or a possession suit with mesne profits, together with an application for a temporary injunction against alteration and parting with possession, and a local commissioner if the state of the property may change.

5. Seek interim payment

   Ask the court to direct the occupant to pay use and occupation charges while the suit is pending. This often brings occupants to settle.

6. Trial and decree

   If the defendant files a written statement raising a defence, issues are framed and evidence is recorded. Where the defence is plainly false, press for an early decree on admission.

7. Execute the decree

   If the occupant does not vacate, file an execution petition. The court issues a warrant for delivery of possession, and a bailiff carries it out with police assistance if ordered.

Time and cost at each stage

Which court hears a possession suit in Delhi?

A suit to recover immovable property must be filed in the court within whose local limits the property is situated (Section 16 of the CPC). Within Delhi, the court then depends on the valuation of the suit. Suits valued above Rs 2 crore go to the original side of the Delhi High Court; smaller ones go to the district court for that area. The Rs 2 crore limit applies at present; a proposal to raise it is pending, so check the current limit. Our page on property suits on the Delhi High Court's original side explains how the higher-value suits are handled.

District civil courts sit at Saket (South and South-East Delhi), Dwarka (South-West), Tis Hazari (Central and West), Rohini (North and North-West), Karkardooma (East, North-East and Shahdara) and Patiala House (New Delhi). The court for a particular property depends on the police station area, so check the eCourts website or the district court's site. This is a private law firm website; for official records, use the courts' own websites.

Property in Noida, Gurugram, Ghaziabad or Faridabad goes to the civil courts there, even if the owner and occupant live in Delhi. Appeals from Delhi district court decrees in possession suits come to the Delhi High Court, which is where many of these disputes finally settle.

Documents you need

Interim orders while the case is pending

A possession suit is slow, but the interim stage can change everything. The first order to seek is an injunction stopping the occupant from altering the property, building on it, or handing it to anyone else. Where the property may be damaged or its condition disputed later, ask for a local commissioner to visit and record what is there. In serious cases, courts appoint a receiver, though this is less common for residential property.

The second is money. Delhi courts can direct an occupant to pay use and occupation charges, or deposit an amount, while the suit is pending, particularly where his defence looks thin. An occupant who has to pay market rent each month to keep fighting often decides to leave. If he does not pay as directed, his defence may be struck off.

Interim orders are not guaranteed. The court weighs whether your title and possession are clear on the papers, and whether the occupant has some arguable claim. An owner who arrives with clean title documents, bills in his name and a prompt complaint stands a far better chance than one who has let years go by.

After the decree: getting the property back

A decree for possession is not the end. If the occupant does not vacate, you file an execution petition in the court that passed the decree. Under Order 21 Rule 35, the court issues a warrant for delivery of possession, and a bailiff goes to the property, removes the occupant and his belongings and hands you possession, with police help if the court so directs. Our page on execution of decrees covers this stage.

Occupants sometimes put up a third party, a relative or 'tenant', who files objections claiming independent rights under Order 21 Rule 97. These are decided within the execution itself, and courts in Delhi are alert to obstruction set up by the judgment-debtor. Advocate B.K. Singh's practical tip here is to ask for the local commissioner's report and photographs of who is living in the property at the time of filing, so a 'new occupant' who appears at execution can be shown to have come later.

NRIs and owners who live outside Delhi

Vacant flats belonging to NRIs and owners in other cities are the most frequent targets. The occupant may be a former caretaker, a property dealer who held the keys, or a stranger working with a forger who has prepared a GPA. You can act through a power of attorney given to a trusted person in India, executed and attested at the Indian embassy or consulate, or apostilled where accepted. Delhi courts allow evidence by video conferencing in suitable cases, so most of the case can run without repeated travel.

Prevention is cheaper than a suit. Keep electricity, water and property tax in your own name and paid, check the property at least every few months through someone you trust, and keep the society informed of who is authorised to enter. Our page for NRI and overseas clients explains how such matters are handled from abroad.

Mistakes owners make

• Waiting too long. Each month of delay lets the occupant look 'settled' and can cost you the six-month Section 6 route.
• Using force or cutting services. This can lead to an FIR against you and an injunction protecting the occupant.
• Calling everyone a trespasser. Suing a tenant or licensee on the wrong footing invites dismissal.
• Forgetting mesne profits. Without a money claim, the occupant has no reason to hurry.
• Not joining all occupants. Name every adult occupant you know of, and ask for an order against anyone claiming through them.

What to do this week

Visit the property or send someone you trust, photograph it, and file a written complaint at the police station. Gather your title papers, mutation, bills and tax receipts into one file. If the occupant is someone you let in, have a lawyer send a notice revoking permission. Count the days since you lost possession: if you are within six months, a Section 6 suit may be the fastest way to remove an illegal occupant.

Our page on property and possession suits explains how the firm handles cases that reach the Delhi High Court, and our page on injunctions against encroachment covers urgent orders.

If someone is occupying your property without a right, you can contact Advocate B.K. Singh for advice on your papers and the right route, or for updates on the law on possession suits.