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Easement Rights
• If a person acquires right to use another person’s land, such right is called
easement right.
• An easement is a right which a person possesses to do something in certain other
land not his own for the beneficial enjoyment of his own land.

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Law of Easement
• The land for which the right is enjoyed is called the dominant
heritage, and the land upon which the right is exercised is called
servient heritage.
• Easement is a right in rem attached to the dominant heritage.
• Easement rights includes:
• right of way without being obstructed;
• right of collecting water from a source across the servient land;
• right of getting flow of air without getting it unreasonably
polluted or obstructed by the servient owner;
• right of accessing the servient land for specific purposes.

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Sources of Easement
• Easement rights are regulated under the Easements Act, 1882 and
the Limitation Act, 1908.
• Easement rights can also originate from contracts and local custom.
• Easement rights can be acquired by the dominant owner/occupier
through-
• necessity,
• prescription,
• grant,
• devolution,
• custom.

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Types of Easements
• S. 13 - Easement of necessity is acquired with acquisition of ownership
of property either by a transfer or a partition.
• Where a land is partitioned, the easement of the land becomes
annexed to each of the shares, but not so as to substantially
increase the burden on the servient heritage. If there is no existing
easement, a new easement of necessity may be created upon
partition of the joint property - S. 13 & 30 of the Easements Act.
• S. 26-27 of Limitation Act with s. 15-16 of Easements Act - Easement by
prescription can be acquired after the right is enjoyed openly and
peacefully without interruption for twenty years or, for government
property, sixty years.
• Easement by grant is created by an agreement between property
owners which may be either express or implied.

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Types of Easements
• S. 19 - Where the dominant heritage is transferred or devolves,
the transfer or devolution shall, unless a contrary intention
appears, be deemed to pass the easement along with it.
• S. 18 - An easement may be acquired in virtue of a local custom.

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Enforcement of Easement
• Right of easement can be enforced by suits for title, injunction and
damages.
• The dominant owner cannot himself abate a wrongful obstruction of
an easement. – S. 36
• Suit for compensation for the disturbance of the easement or of any
right accessory thereto can be filed if the disturbance has actually
caused substantial damage to the plaintiff. – S. 33
• Injunction may be granted to restrain the disturbance of an
easement both in case of actual disturbance and threat of
disturbance. – S. 35

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Extinction of Easement
• Easement can be extinguished under circumstances described in sections
37-48 in the following modes:
• Extinction of interest in dominant heritage.
• Release by dominant owner.
• Revocation by servient owner.
• Expiration.
• Termination of necessity.
• Permanent change of dominant property.
• Permanent alteration of easement destination.
• Destruction of either heritage.
• Unity of ownership.
• Non-enjoyment.
• Extinction of accessory easement.

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Land Related Crimes

ভূ িম অপরাধ িতেরাধ ও িতকার আইন ২০২৩ defined several crimes relating
to land.
1. Fraud in relation to land record, deeds, transfer and possession: 7 years
(s. 4).
i. Claiming other’s land as own,
ii. Transfer by concealing information,
iii.Unauthorized transfer
iv.Transfer by impersonation
v. Executing deed containing false information
vi.Providing false information to authority.

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2. Forgery in relation to land record, deeds, transfer and possession :

7 years (s. 5).
i. Executing false deed with intention of injury, deprivation of property
or deception.
ii. Preparing deed using forged signature and seal.
iii.Unauthorized modification to a deed.
iv.Creating false deed
v. Using deception or dishonesty for compelling a person to execute, sign
or seal a deed.

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3. Wrongful possession or dispossession of land: 2 years (s. 7).

i. No one can possess land except succession or transfer from recorded
owner, or under an order of court.
ii. A lawful possessor cannot be dispossessed or be prevented from
possession except under order of a court or authority.
4. Wrongful refusal to deliver possession to the purchaser if the
whole price is paid, except reasonable cause: 2 years (s. 9).

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5. Tempering land boundary and damaging land (s. 10).

6. Wrongful possession or causing damage to public land (s. 11).
7. Wrongfully changing nature of public land by filling (s. 12)
8. Cutting surface of cultivable land without permission of DC except for personal
use (s. 13).
9. Filling up land without permission of owner (s. 13.)
10.Failure to comply orders made under s. 8 (s. 15)

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Trial of Offences - S. 19
• All the offences under the Act are cognizable.
• The Offences under 4-5 are non-bailable. Other offences are bailable and
compoundable.
• The offences will be tried by 1st Class Judicial Magistrate.
• Offences under 6-15 can be tried by the Mobile Court also – s. 22.

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