In Brief
The Supreme Court held that a person who has perfected title through 12 years of adverse possession can maintain a suit under Article 65 of the Limitation Act seeking declaration of title, protection of possession, and recovery of possession. Adverse possession operates both as a shield (defence) for defendants and as a sword (offensive claim) for plaintiffs. Once the statutory period expires and the owner's title is extinguished, the adverse possessor acquires absolute title. The Limitation Act contains no provision barring plaintiffs from suing based on adverse possession. The Court overruled three prior decisions (Gurudwara Sahib, State of Uttarakhand, and Dharampal) that had restricted adverse possession as a defence-only doctrine, finding those decisions were based on uncontested propositions and lacked substantive legal analysis.
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