Delhi HC issued notice to AGI to suggest ways to reform the Indian Easement Act of 1882

Delhi High Court (HC) on 26 October 2014 issued notice to the Attorney General of India (AGI) to suggest ways to reform the Indian Easement Act of 1882 and examine the constitutional validity of the Section 60 (b) of the Act. With this, the Delhi HC begun the exercise independently to zero in on outdated laws that need to be phased out.

The Indian Easement Act deals with rights conferred on an individual over land not owned by him, but negotiated through a license agreement.

The Judgement

A Delhi HC bench headed by Justice J R Midha issued notice to the AGI after settling a property suit between two brothers. While settling the property suit, the bench raised questions about the Constitutional validity of section 60 (b) of the Act. Section 60 (b) gives all encompassing powers to a licensee in a property even though he doesn't own it.

Justice Midha decided to examine the validity of the Act after it came to his attention during the hearings on the private suit that Section 60(b) of the Indian Easement Act, 1882 is heavily tilted against owner of the property.

HC realized that due to it, a licence cannot be revoked by the owner if the licensee, acting upon the licence, has executed a work of a permanent character and incurred expenses in the execution.

In effect it means that even though a tenant who raises a construction over a plot of leased land has to surrender the land on the expiry of the period of the lease, a licensee can become owner of a property by simply raising some construction over a plot of land.