• Agricultural land in Punjab

Hello,
My wife and brother -in-law have inherited land in the Punjab, in 2012. The are both UK born and resident here. The land was registered in their names in 2012/13. Since 2013 they have let a cousin use the land for farming. No written agreement, but pepercorn rent paid for the first couple of years. They want to sell the land and need vacant possiession again. 

What is the procedure for getting vacant possession? Is there a notice to be served on the cousin, or can we just ask him to leave in February when my brother-in-law goes over to India ? 

Are there trustworthy land agents that can market the land without risk of being defrauded? Most want POA, which is a risk as i understand it? We are constantly being told of horror stories about UK NRIs being ripped off! 

Any advice is much appreciated. An email reply is best.

Many thanks.
Asked 7 years ago in Property Law
Religion: Sikh

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17 Answers

you cna ask cousin to vacate the land as you want to sell the land 

 

2) if he refuses then issue legal notice to vacate the land 

 

3) if he refuses file eviction suit 

 

4) execute POA in favour of family member for sale of land 

 

5) POA should be attested before Indian consulate 

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
99785 Answers
8145 Consultations

Hello,

I would like to suggest you to ask him verbally first and also send him a legal notice to vacant the land. And yes dont give POA to anybody,

Regards

Swarupananda Neogi
Advocate, Kolkata
2993 Answers
6 Consultations

1. If there is no written agreement then the tenancy will be considered to be a month to month tenancy. A notice may be served upon him one month before and you may ask him thereupon to give you the vacant possession of the land. 

 

Do not fall into the trap of agents. At max you may ask your relatives to search for a buyer and then you should only do the rest. It will require a little travelling from your end but at least your money and land will be safe. 

 

Regards 


Note that by sending a 6 month notice you will be admitting the tenancy, whereas should not be considered as the tenant. Do not send a 6 month notice 

Anilesh Tewari
Advocate, New Delhi
18103 Answers
377 Consultations

Dear Sir,

You are advised not to approach brokers however you can execute SPA in favor of one of your kith and kin.  Get issue legal notice u/s 106 of Transfer of Property Act saying that there is oral tenancy and he is a tenant under you.  A eviction order can be easily get from Civil Court.  It may take some time but you will get a strong order which can be implemented through police.

Netravathi Kalaskar
Advocate, Bengaluru
4951 Answers
27 Consultations

Hi,

In order to avoid complications, your brother in law himself may visit the place and get the land vacated. Before visit, advance notice is required to be given. After visit and proper enquiry only, it is advisable to allow someone to market that land. The POA may be given for limited purposes only and actual dealing must be done by self  in order to prevent any fraud.

Ganesh Singh
Advocate, New Delhi
7169 Answers
16 Consultations

See if they vacate on oral request then its good otherwise They have to give a legal notice to cousion to vacate the possession as it was under permissive  possession . If on notice they donot.vacate a suit has to filed in the revenue court for possession.

Shubham Jhajharia
Advocate, Ahmedabad
25513 Answers
179 Consultations

Dear Client,

If by merely asking, cousin hand over the possession and well and good otherwise in case of agriculture land and no lease deed executed, lease shall be terminate by giving 6 months notice. Don`t be dependent on agents.

Hire an agent, so that he can find buyer and available when you visit India and for this purpose NO POA required.

Yogendra Singh Rajawat
Advocate, Jaipur
23081 Answers
31 Consultations

1. the cousin can at best be considered as a caretaker of the land

2. the owner can require the caretaker to anytime vacate the land

3. the cousin can claim that he is a lessee or tenant of the land and thus try to retain his possession, but this needs to be denied by your relatives. Also the cousin needs to proof to show that he paid rent in order to claim tenancy or leasehold rights

4. best stand would be that the cousin is merely a caretaker and ought to vacate. There are supreme court judgments stating that caretakers have no right in the property despite their long possession, when the owner calls upon him to vacate the property

5. first try and talk to the cousin and ask him to move out

6. if he does not relent then issue a legal notice 

7. when the notice period stated in the legal notice expires the cousin will be considered as trespasser and then you can file a criminal complaint against him with police

8. a separate civil suit for eviction and possession and for injunctive reliefs can also be filed 

9. no POA should be given to any person. As it is as per the SC ruling no property can be sold or transferred through a POA. But nevertheless it would be safe to not give any POA to any person for the same may be misused

10. its advisable to do the sale deal in person or through a trusted family person only

Yusuf Rampurawala
Advocate, Mumbai
7899 Answers
79 Consultations

You should orally ask your cousin vacate the land and give him some days time to deliver the peaceful possession of the land to you and in case he fails to do so, you can serve legal notice on him and if he doesn't adhere, you can file a suit for ejectment against him in civil Court in order to get a vacant possession of your land. You do not have to file a suit for eviction in the facts and circumstances of the present case, in case of no rental agreement between the parties he would bbea monthly tenant only.

 

You should not trust any person other than your family members and close friends to sell the property on your behalf by way of a power of attorney as the chances of being duped of are very high. 

Siddharth Jain
Advocate, New Delhi
6617 Answers
102 Consultations

1. Ask him to vacate the land incase if he refuse serve a valid legal Notice to vacate.

2.you can file a complaint u/s 441 of IPC trespasser and get the property vacated.

3.POA Grantor (Person who is giving the POA) should visit the Indian Embassy and execute the POA in front of the authority. After that send the original executed POA to India and ask POA holder to get it notarized within one month since the first execution date. You may also require to attach a Stamp Paper in India. 

Mohammed Mujeeb
Advocate, Hyderabad
19325 Answers
32 Consultations

1. A Legal Notice is necessary for obtaining vacant possession, considering that vacant possession may not be handed over and a legal dispute would ensue.

2. You can ask some confederate to handle the sale modalities without giving POA. AND on date of date of sale registration, you may make yourself available here, for signing.

Keep Smiling .... Hemant Agarwal

Hemant Agarwal
Advocate, Mumbai
5612 Answers
25 Consultations

1) If you are OCI card holder you are not allowed to purchase agricultural land, however you can take only for 5 years leas.

Ganesh Kadam
Advocate, Pune
13008 Answers
267 Consultations

1. No notice is required to be served on him in the first place.

2. If he does not vacate the land on his own accord then your wife and/or her brother will have to file a suit for recovery of possession of the land in the civil court. 

3. The suit can be filed by them even without executing a GPA/SPA. 

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30840 Answers
981 Consultations

Hello a notice has to be served to the cousin so that he may vacate the land.

Regards 

Rahul Mishra
Advocate, Lucknow
14114 Answers
65 Consultations

Your wife and brother in  law can intimate their cousin to deliver vacant possession of the landed property by the time stipulated and wait for him to comply with the demand made.

Failing to respond, they may initite legal action against him to evict him from the property.

Let them be cautious about the middlemen or brokers who may try to take advantage of their situation.

Let them deal with the transactions directly.

They can take the assistance of a genuine lawyer to advise them about the right things to be done or undertaken at right time.

 

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
89986 Answers
2493 Consultations

Yes you can .first ask them to give you vacant possession orally then send a notice. Yiu can execute specific power of attorney or any agreement to avoid frauds in future.

Prashant Nayak
Advocate, Mumbai
34520 Answers
249 Consultations

1. Thay shall have tomissue notice giving 6 months time on their said cousin.

 

2. It will be of high risk to execute a POA in favour of some one for selling the said property while staying abroad.

 

3. they can fix the buyer and register the sale deed by arriving in India.

Krishna Kishore Ganguly
Advocate, Kolkata
27703 Answers
726 Consultations

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