A. SUBRAMANIAN & ANR.versusR. PANNERSELVAM

                          [2021] 1 S.C.R. 879                             879


                   A. SUBRAMANIAN & ANR.                                  A
                                  v.
                       R. PANNERSELVAM
                   (Civil Appeal No. 9472 of 2010)
                         FEBRUARY 08, 2021                                B
           [ASHOK BHUSHAN, R. SUBHASH REDDY
                        AND M.R. SHAH, JJ.]
       Suit – For permanent injunction – Plaintiff-respondent filed
suit for permanent injunction interdicting the defendants-appellants
from disturbing the peaceful possession and enjoyment of plaintiff        C
over suit property –Plaintiff ’s case was that he had purchased
property from descendants of one ‘D’ and supported his claim with
power of attorney executed by legal heirs of ‘D’, sale deed dated
16.07.2001, sale deed dated 14.03.1946 in favour of ‘D’ and house
tax receipt dated 27.02.2001 –Defendant refuted the claim of              D
plaintiff – The trial Court held that the plaintiff has right over the
property, the possession of plaintiff was also found to be proved –
However, the First Appellate Court came to the conclusion that the
plaintiff failed to establish title over the property –The High Court
found that earlier appellant-defendant had filed a suit for
declaration and recovery of possession of the same suit property          E
and it was dismissed by the trial Court and appeal was also dismissed
– So, the finality was achieved to the previous proceedings that
defendant had neither title nor was in possession of suit property –
The High Court after considering the same affirmed the decision of
the trial Court granting injunction in favour of the plaintiff – On       F
appeal, held: In the instant case, the present suit giving rise to this
appeal, was not a suit for declaration of title and possession rather
the suit was filed for injunction – The High Court has given cogent
reasons for holding that the suit filed by the plaintiff for injunction
was maintainable without entering into the title of the plaintiff in
facts of the present case specially in view of the previous litigation    G
which was initiated at the instance of defendant where he lost the
suit for declaration and recovery of possession of the same property
– Therefore, the defendant cannot make a plea to be in possession
and also, when defendant had admitted that plaintiff was in
possession – The trial Court as well as the High Court has looked
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                                    879
880            SUPREME COURT REPORTS                      [2021] 1 S.C.R.


A     into not only the oral evidence but the exhibits which were filed on
      behalf of the defendant– Thus, there is no error in the judgment of
      the High Court.
            Dismissing the appeal, the Court
            HELD: 1. In the present case the possession of the plaintiff
B     was upheld by the High Court on two main reasons. Firstly, the
      defendant of the suit, had earlier filed a suit for recovery of
      possession and declaration for the same property against the
      manager of the property which suit was dismissed and recovery
      of possession having been rejected, defendant cannot even make
C     a plea to be in possession and secondly defendant in his cross-
      examination himself admitted that the plaintiff after purchase had
      demolished the construction. [Para 20][889-A-B]
             2. The High Court was also right in its view that it is a
      common principle of law that even trespasser, who is in established
D     possession of the property could obtain injunction. However, the
      matter would be different, if the plaintiff himself elaborates in the
      plaint about title dispute and fails to make a prayer for declaration
      of title along with injunction relief. The High Court has rightly
      observed that a bare perusal of the plaint would demonstrate
      that the plaintiff has not narrated anything about the title dispute
E     obviously because of the fact that in the previous litigation, DW1
      failed to obtain any relief. The High court has rightly observed
      that the principle that plaintiff cannot seek for a bare permanent
      injunction without seeking a prayer for declaration is not applicable
      to the facts of the present case. [Para 21][889-G-H; 890-A]
F           3.In the present case the present suit giving rise to this
      appeal, was not a suit for declaration of title and possession rather
      the suit was filed for injunction. As noted, the High Court has
      given cogent reasons for holding that the suit filed by the plaintiff
      for injunction was maintainable without entering into the title of
G     the plaintiff in facts of the present case specially in view of the
      previous litigation which was initiated at the instance of defendant
      No.1 where he lost the suit for declaration and recovery of
      possession of the same property. The submission of the
      appellants that evidence filed by the defendant were not looked

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      A.SUBRAMANIAN & ANR. v. R. PANNERSELVAM                             881


into is not correct. The trial court as well as the High Court has        A
looked into not only the oral evidence but the exhibits which
were filed on behalf of the defendant which is clear from the
discussion made by the High Court. [Para 25][891-F-H; 892-A]
      4. This Court does not find any error in the view of the
High Court that it was not necessary to enter into the validity of        B
Exhibits A-1 and A-2 and the suit for injunction filed by the plaintiff
deserved to be decreed on the basis of admitted and established
possession of the plaintiff. This Court,thus, does not find any error
in the judgment of the High Court allowing the second appeal
filed by the plaintiff by setting aside the judgment of the
First Appellate Court and restoring that of trial court.                  C
[Para 26][892-B]
      Nagar Palika, Jind vs. Jagat Singh, Advocate (1995) 3
      SCC 426 : [1995] 3 SCR 9; Yamuna Nagar
      Improvement Trust vs. Khariati Lal (2005) 10 SCC 30;
      Jagdish Prasad Patel (dead) Through Legal                           D
      Representatives and another vs. Shivnath and others
      (2019) 6 SCC 82 : [2019] 6 SCR 518; Ajendra
      Prasadji Narendra Prasadji Pandey vs. Swami K.
      Narayandasji and others (2005) 10 SCC 11 : [2005]
      1 Suppl. SCR 392 ; Nair Service Society Ltd. vs. K.C.               E
      Alexander and others AIR 1968 SC 1165 : [1968] SCR
      163 – referred to.
      Parry v. Clissold (1907) AC 73 – referred to.
                       Case Law Reference
                                                                          F
(2005) 10 SCC 30                referred to              Para 11
[1995] 3 SCR 9                  referred to              Paras 11, 18
[1968] SCR 163                  referred to              Para 22
[2005] 1 Suppl. SCR 392         referred to              Para 22
                                                                          G
[2019] 6 SCR 518                referred to              Paras 11, 24
      CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 9472
of 2010.
      From the Judgement and Order dated 28.04.2009 passed by the
High Court of Judicature at Madras in SA No. 39 of 2009.                  H
882             SUPREME COURT REPORTS                           [2021] 1 S.C.R.


A           Ms. K. Abhirame, V. Raghavachari and G. Balaji, Adv. for the
      Appellants.
           V. Prabhakar, Ms. E.R. Sumathy, Ms. Jyoti Parashar, N. J.
      Ramachander and Ms. S. Spandana Reddy, Advs. for the Respondent.
            The Judgement of the Court was delivered by
B
            ASHOK BHUSHAN, J.
              1. This appeal has been filed by the defendants in the civil suit
      challenging the judgment dated 28.04.2009 of Madras High Court in
      Second Appeal No.39 of 2009 by which judgment the High Court had
C     allowed the second appeal of the plaintiff setting aside the judgment of
      the First Appellate Court dated 26.11.2008 in A.S. No.172 of 2005 and
      restoring the judgment dated 06.02.2004 in O.S.No.188 of 2002 of the
      trial court decreeing the suit.
             2. Parties shall be referred to as referred in the Original Suit.
D     Brief facts of the case giving rise to this appeal are:
             The plaintiff, R. Pannerselvam, who is the respondent in this appeal,
      filed O.S. No.188 of 2002 in the Court of District Munsif, Namakkal
      praying for permanent injunction interdicting the defendants from
      disturbing the peaceful possession and enjoyment of the plaintiff over
      the suit property. The suit property was measuring 1777-1/2 sq.ft.
E
      comprising in Survey No.172/1 situated at Kalappanaickenpatti Village.
      Plaintiff’s case in the suit was that suit property originally belonged to
      one Dhasi Naidu son of Thalama Naidu who went to Sri Lanka as a
      Farm Labour and died at Sri Lanka. The son of Dhasi Naidu, Krishnasamy
      Naidu came to India in 1981 and entrusted the suit property and other
F     properties to one Ghani Sahib, who had been managing and enjoying the
      properties.
             3. The plaintiff claimed to have purchased the suit property by
      registered deed on 16.07.2001 for a valid consideration from the
      descendants of Dhasi Naidu. The plaintiff’s further case was that the
G     first defendant was formerly military serviceman, and the second
      defendant who was son-in-law of the first defendant, working as constable
      in police department, attempted to disturb the plaintiff’s peaceful
      possession and enjoyment over the suit property. Hence, the suit was
      filed. The documents filed along with the plaint were power of attorney
      executed by legal heirs of Dhasi Naidu dated 22.05.2001, sale deed
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       A.SUBRAMANIAN & ANR. v. R. PANNERSELVAM                                  883
                [ASHOK BHUSHAN, J.]

dated 16.07.2001 and sale deed dated 14.03.1946 in favour of Dhasi              A
Naidu and house tax receipt dated 27.02.2001.
        4. Defendant No.1 filed written statement refuting the claim of
the plaintiff; defendant admitted that suit property belonged to Dhasi
Naidu. The defendant pleaded that registered sale deed dated 16.07.2001
itself is a fabricated and forged one. So called legal heirs-descendants        B
of Dhasi Naidu as alleged in sale deed are fictious and are not true legal
heirs of the said Dhasi Naidu. The title of the suit property is itself
questionable, the plaintiff along with Ghani Sahib has fabricated two
special powers and plaintiff under Order VII Rule 14 of C.P.C. with the
said documents had filed suit. The defendants in the written statement
had set up the claim that Dhasi Naidu’s son Sanjeevi Naidu had entrusted        C
the suit property and other properties to one P. Rangaraju Naidu by a
registered power of attorney, who later died, leaving behind his only
legal heir Mrs. Arjuna Devi, who died leaving behind her daughters,
Nalanda, Indira and Gunabarathi. Defendant No.1 on behalf of her three
daughters filed a suit against the Ghani Sahib questioning his tenancy          D
which suit was dismissed and had been taken in appeal being A.S.No.297
of 1994.
      5. The plaintiff examined himself as PW.1. Defendant examined
DW.1 to DW.6. Plaintiff filed seven exhibits. The trial court framed the
following three issues:                                                         E
       “a) Is the permanent injunction sought for by the plaintiff in the
       suit is available to him?
      b) Is the statement of the defendants that the plaintiff is not the
      real owner of the suit property correct?
                                                                                F
      c) What are the other reliefs available to the plaintiff?
       6. The trial court held that power of attorney dated 22.05.2001
was prepared at Sri Lanka and registered at Namakkal Sub-Registrar’s
office. The documents filed on behalf of the plaintiff are Exhibits PW1
and PW2. The trial court held that the plaintiff has right over the property,
                                                                                G
the possession of plaintiff was also found proved. The trial court decreed
the suit.
       7. The defendants filed an appeal before the Sub Court, Namakkal
being A.S. No.172 of 2005. The First Appellate Court entered into the
validity of power of attorney Exhibits PW1 and PW2 and observed that
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884             SUPREME COURT REPORTS                            [2021] 1 S.C.R.


A     Exhibit PW1 is in circumstances by suspicious surrounding. The First
      Appellate Court, however, came to a conclusion that power deed written
      abroad need not be registered. The First Appellate Court, further, came
      to the conclusion that execution and authentication of power of attorney,
      Exhibit PW1 having not been proved, the sale deed Exhibit PW2 is also
      adversely affected. Hence, plaintiff has failed to establish his title over
B
      the suit property. The First Appellate Court has, further, found that
      defendant No.1 had instituted O.S.No. 524 of 1987 which was for the
      same property in which defendant No. 1 had claimed declaration and
      possession of the property for himself and her three daughters which
      suit having been dismissed, the defendant has also not been able to prove
C     that suit property belonged to the three daughters of defendant No.1 and
      possession lies with them. The First Appellate Court allowed the appeal
      and set aside the decree on the ground that plaintiff had failed to prove
      his title. Aggrieved by the judgment of the First Appellate Court the
      plaintiff has filed the second appeal.
D            8. The High Court vide its judgment dated 28.04.2009 allowed the
      second appeal by deciding three substantial questions of law affirming
      the decree of trial court granting injunction in favour of the plaintiff. The
      High Court found that defendant having filed Original Suit No.524 of
      1987 for declaration and recovery of possession of the suit property
      which was dismissed by the trial court against which A.S. No.297 of
E     1994 having also been dismissed, the finality was achieved to the previous
      proceedings that defendant has neither title nor in possession of the suit
      property and the possession of the plaintiff having been admitted by the
      defendant, the suit of the plaintiff deserved to be decreed. The High
      Court was further of the view that the First Appellate Court ought not to
F     have entered into the validity of the Exhibits A-1 and A-2. The High
      Court allowed the appeal. Aggrieved against the judgment of the High
      Court, the defendants have come up in this appeal.
             9. Ms. K. Abhirame, learned counsel has appeared on behalf of
      the appellants and Shri V. Prabhakar, learned counsel has appeared for
G     the respondent.
             10. Learned counsel for the appellants submits that the plaintiff
      having claimed right to the suit property on the basis of sale deed dated
      16.07.2001 which sale deed was not found to be valid having not been
      executed by proper power of attorney by the heirs of Dhasi Naidu, the
H     suit of the plaintiff deserved to be dismissed. It is submitted that the
       A.SUBRAMANIAN & ANR. v. R. PANNERSELVAM                                   885
                [ASHOK BHUSHAN, J.]

plaintiff can succeed in the suit on the strength of his own case and the        A
plaintiff cannot take any advantage of the weakness of the case of the
defendants. Even defendants failed to prove their title and possession
the suit of the plaintiff could not have been decreed mere on the fact
that the defendants failed to prove their title and possession.
      11. Learned counsel for the appellants further submitted that the          B
documents filed by the defendants were not considered by the trial court
as well as by the High Court. Learned counsel for the appellant has
placed reliance on the judgments of this Court in Nagar Palika, Jind
vs. Jagat Singh, Advocate, (1995) 3 SCC 426; Yamuna Nagar
Improvement Trust vs. Khariati Lal, (2005) 10 SCC 30 and
Jagdish Prasad Patel (dead) Through Legal Representatives and                    C
another vs. Shivnath and others, (2019) 6 SCC 82.
       12. Shri V. Prabhakar, learned counsel appearing for the respondent
refuting the submission of the counsel for the appellants contends that
plaintiff has successfully proved his possession which was also admitted
by the defendant in his statement, the suit for injunction was rightly decreed   D
by the trial court. It is submitted that in essence the plaintiff has also
successfully proved his titled by registered sale deed. The property was
purchased by a registered sale deed on the basis of power of attorney
executed by legal heirs of Dhasi Naidu. The power of attorney having
been prepared at Sri Lanka and registered by Sub-Registrar Namakkal,             E
First Appellate Court committed error in holding the power of attorney
not properly executed and authenticated. It is submitted that the plaintiff
having demolished the old structure which is proved from the evidence
on record, the possession of the plaintiff could not be denied by the
defendant. The defendant having filed suit for declaration as well as
recovery of possession of the suit property against Ghani Sahib, the             F
manager of the property which suit having been dismissed there is no
right in the defendant to resist the suit of the plaintiff.
      13. We have considered the submission of the learned counsel for
the parties and have perused the records.
                                                                                 G
      14. The plaintiff in his plaint claimed title and possession, and
sought restraining the defendants from disturbing plaintiff’s peaceful
possession and enjoyment over the suit property. In the suit plaintiff has
prayed for the following reliefs:

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886              SUPREME COURT REPORTS                           [2021] 1 S.C.R.


A           a)     by means of permanent injunction interdicting the
                   defendants, and their man from disturbing the peaceful
                   possession and enjoyment of the plaintiff over the suit
                   property in any manner;
            b)     by granting further other relief or reliefs as the Hon’ble
B                  Court deems fit in the circumstances of the case;
            c)     awarding the cost of the suit by the defendants and thus
                   render justice.”
             15. The trial court found that the plaintiff has proved his right over
      the property as well as possession, he was entitled for decree of injunction.
C     All the three courts have referred to the earlier suit being O.S.No.524 of
      1987 filed by the defendants which suit was dismissed by the trial court
      and appeal against which being A.S. No.297 of 1994 was also dismissed
      which judgments were brought before the trial court by the plaintiff. The
      copy of the judgment dated 23.11.1992 in O.S. No.524 of 1987 of the
D     trial court has been brought on record as Annexure P5. The suit was
      filed by defendant No.1 along with his three minor daughters and he
      being father, guardian and next friend of daughters, the plaintiff of O.S.
      No.524 of 1987 claimed title over the suit property through Shri P.
      Rangaraju Naidu. Ghani Sahib who was manager, was impleaded as
      defendant and suit was filed for declaration and possession and permanent
E     injunction. The defendant contested the suit where defendant took the
      plea that the property belonged to Dhasi Naidu whose son Krishnasamy
      Naidu, who came to India and executed power of attorney in favour of
      defendant for managing the suit property since then the defendant was
      in possession and user. The trial court held that the plaintiff has failed to
F     prove his title as well as possession. The possession of defendant was
      admitted by Subramanian who was the plaintiff in the said suit. In
      paragraph 11 of the judgment following was held by the trial court:
            “11.....In this suit, it has been admitted by the plaintiffs that the
            defendant is in possession of the suit properties. Under the
G           circumstances since the plaintiffs have admitted that the defendant
            is in possession of the suit properties, it is held that even though
            the defendant has not produced the power of attorney executed
            by Krishnasamy in favour of defendant, in the deposition DW1
            has made a claim that the defendant is the power of Krishnasamy
            is an acceptable one. From the deposition of DW2, it is held that
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       A.SUBRAMANIAN & ANR. v. R. PANNERSELVAM                                    887
                [ASHOK BHUSHAN, J.]

       Dasi Naidu died leaving behind Sanjeevi Naidu, Nallu Naidu and             A
       Krishnasamy Naidu as his legal heirs..... It is also held that the
       defendant is in possession and managing the suit property in his
       capacity as the power agent of Krishnasamy and defendant is not
       a tenant in the suit property and accordingly issue number 2 and 5
       are answered respectively. ....”
                                                                                  B
      16. The suit for declaration and possession filed by Subramanian
was dismissed against which A.S. No.297 of 1994 was filed which was
dismissed by the District Court, Salem on 08.09.1995.
       17. The High Court in its judgment has rightly referred to the
earlier litigation and held that in view of the findings in the earlier suit      C
filed by Subramanian and his three daughters it is sufficient to hold that
defendants are not in possession of the suit property. The High Court
has also rightly observed that plaintiff’s possession is based on the
admission of the defendant himself made in the suit. In paragraph 24,
the High Court has held:
                                                                                  D
       “24.....The Plaintiff’s possession is based on admissions made by
       the defendants themselves and also the factum of the previous
       proceedings, which D-1 initiated and met with his waterloo.”
        18. The submission which has been made by the counsel for the
appellants is that in the suit, plaintiff has claimed his title and possession,   E
the High Court committed error in not entering into the question of title
of plaintiff and without determining the title of the plaintiff the suit ought
not to have been decreed. Learned counsel for the appellants has placed
reliance on the judgment of this Court in Nagar Palika, Jind vs. Jagat
Singh, Advocate, (1995) 3 SCC 426. In the above case suit was filed
by the respondent for injunction which was resisted by Municipal                  F
Committee on the ground that the respondent was neither the owner of
the land in question nor was he in possession. The trial court dismissed
the suit. The First Appellate Court had decreed the suit and second
appeal was dismissed by the High Court. Nagar Palika filed appeal before
this Court. The argument was raised before this court by Nagar Palika             G
that the Court of law proceeded on the assumption that the acquisition
of title through the sale deed which has not been produced before the
High Court was admitted fact in the case and had never been questioned
by the Municipal Committee. This Court in paragraph 6 disapproving the
judgment of the First Appellate Court held following:
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888            SUPREME COURT REPORTS                          [2021] 1 S.C.R.


A           “6. The counsel appearing for the respondent, could not explain
            as to how in face of such clear denial of the title and possession
            of the respondent by the Municipal Committee in its written
            statement, the Court of Appeal proceeded on the assumption that
            the acquisition of the title through the sale deed, which had not
            been produced before the Court, was an admitted fact in the case
B
            and had never been questioned by the Municipal Committee.
            According to us, when the Court of Appeal proceeded to consider
            the evidence relating to the possession of the respondent after the
            alleged date of purchase by him through the sale deed in question,
            which was never produced before the Court, the Court of Appeal
C           committed a grave error. It never applied its mind to the main
            issue, in a suit based on title, whether the respondent had proved
            his title to the suit property. It cannot be disputed that onus to
            prove his title to the property in question was on the said
            respondent. It further appears, that on behalf of the appellant, it
            was pointed out before the Court of Appeal that the said
D
            respondent was claiming the share of one of the co-shares in the
            patti, but no co-sharer can convey title to a specific part of joint
            property. However omitted to consider the basic issues in the
            case, the Court of Appeal proceeded only to consider the revenue
            records from the year 1974-75 like jamabandhi for the year
E           1974-75 and Khasra Girdwari pertaining to the year 1977-79.”
             19. In the suit stand was taken by the respondent that the suit be
      treated under Section 6 of the Specific Relief Act, 1963. This Court
      repelled the above submission. In paragraph 9, the plea of respondent
      based on Section 6 was rejected by this Court by making following
F     observation:
            “9. We fail to appreciate as to how the principle of Section 6 of
            Specific Relief Act, 1963 can be applied in the facts and
            circumstances of the present case. The respondent, who was the
            plaintiff, never alleged that he had been dispossessed by the
G           appellant-Municipal Committee. On the other hand, he claimed to
            be the owner of the land in question and asserted that he was in
            possession over the same. He sought for permanent injunction
            restraining the appellant from interfering with his possession. Both
            the parties led evidences in support of their respective claims
            including on the question of title.”
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       A.SUBRAMANIAN & ANR. v. R. PANNERSELVAM                                     889
                [ASHOK BHUSHAN, J.]

       20. In the present case the possession of the plaintiff was upheld          A
by the High Court on two main reasons. Firstly, the defendant of the suit,
Subramanian had earlier filed a suit for recovery of possession and
declaration for the same property against Ghani Sahib who was manager
of the property which suit was dismissed and recovery of possession
having been rejected, defendant cannot even make a plea to be in
                                                                                   B
possession and secondly defendant in his cross-examination himself
admitted that the plaintiff after purchase had demolished the construction.
The High Court in paragraph 13 of its judgment has extracted the relevant
excerpts from the statement of DW1’s deposition during cross-
examination. In paragraph 13 of the judgment after quoting from deposition
of DW1, the High Court held:                                                       C
       “13.....A bare perusal of those excerpts would clearly display as
       to how DW1(D1) went to the extent of half-Heartedly admitting
       partly the reality) and denied the rest of the truth, without having
       any responsibility to speak truth. For the purpose of achieving
       success in the litigative battle, by hook or crook, D-1 went to the         D
       extent of pleading before this Court quite antithetical to the
       Judgments and decrees in O.S.No.524 of 1987 and in A.s. No.297
       of 1994 (Exs.A-3, A-5, A-6 and A-7) that the previous suit was
       not for recovery of possession of the suit property. But, those
       judgments and decrees would clearly indicate that the earlier suit
       was filed by D-1 and his three children for declaration and recovery        E
       of possession of the entire property including the suit property. In
       the said previous suit, the first defendant and his legal heirs
       contended that they derived title from their original porosities
       Rangarajulu Naidu and obtained the suit property under a power
       deed and they failed in both the courts. As such, that is much              F
       more than sufficient to hold that the defendants are not in possession
       of the suit-property herein.”
        21. The High Court was also right in its view that it is a common
principle of law that even trespasser, who is in established possession of
the property could obtain injunction. However, the matter would be                 G
different, if the plaintiff himself elaborates in the plaint about title dispute
and fails to make a prayer for declaration of title along with injunction
relief. The High Court has rightly observed that a bare perusal of the
plaint would demonstrate that the plaintiff has not narrated anything about
the title dispute obviously because of the fact that in the previous litigation,
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890             SUPREME COURT REPORTS                            [2021] 1 S.C.R.


A     DW1 failed to obtain any relief. The High court has rightly observed
      that the principle that plaintiff cannot seek for a bare permanent injunction
      without seeking a prayer for declaration is not applicable to the facts of
      the present case.
             22. We may also refer to judgment of this Court in Nair Service
B     Society Ltd. vs. K.C. Alexander and others, AIR 1968 SC 1165,
      where three-Judge Bench of this Court presided by Hidayatullah, J. has
      reiterated the principle that possession is good against all but the true
      owner. The principle enumerated in judgment of Judicial Committee in
      Parry v. Clissold, (1907) AC 73, was noticed in paragraph 17 to the
      following effect:
C
            “(17) In our judgment this involves an incorrect approach to our
            problem. To express our meaning we may begin by reading 1907
            AC 73, to discover if the principle that possession is good against
            all but the true owner has in any way been departed from. 1907
            AC 73 reaffirmed the principle by stating quite clearly:
D
            “It cannot be disputed that a person in possession of land in the
            assumed character of owner and exercising peaceably the ordinary
            rights of ownership has a perfectly good title against all the world
            but the rightful owner. And if the rightful owner does not come
            forward and assert his title by the process of law within the period
E           prescribed by the provisions of the statute of Limitation applicable
            to the case, his right is for ever extinguished and the possessory
            owner acquires an absolute title.”
            23. In paragraph 22 of the judgment, the Bench approved the
      dictum in 1907 AC 73.
F
              24. Learned counsel for the appellants has also referred to
      judgment of this Court in Ajendra Prasadji Narendra Prasadji Pandey
      vs. Swami K. Narayandasji and others, (2005)10 SCC 11, in which
      case this Court elaborated the cumulative factor for granting a temporary
      injunction which case is clearly distinguishable and has no application in
G     the present case. Next judgment relied by the learned counsel for the
      appellant is in Jagdish Prasad Patel (dead) through Legal
      Representatives and another vs. Shivnath and others, (2019) 6
      SCC 82. In the above case in the suit for declaration of title and
      possession this Court reiterated the principle that suit for declaration of
      title and possession the plaintiffs will succeed on the strength of their
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       A.SUBRAMANIAN & ANR. v. R. PANNERSELVAM                                     891
                [ASHOK BHUSHAN, J.]

own title irrespective of whether defendants proved their case or not. In          A
paragraph 44 and 45 following was laid down:
       “44. In the suit for declaration for title and possession, the
       Plaintiffs-Respondents could succeed only on the strength of their
       own title and not on the weakness of the case of the Defendants-
       Appellants. The burden is on the Plaintiffs-Respondents to establish        B
       their title to the suit properties to show that they are entitled for a
       decree for declaration. The Plaintiffs-Respondents have neither
       produced the title document i.e. patta-lease which the Plaintiffs-
       Respondents are relying upon nor proved their right by adducing
       any other evidence. As noted above, the revenue entries relied on
       by them are also held to be not genuine. In any event, revenue              C
       entries for few Khataunis are not proof of title; but are mere
       statements for revenue purpose. They cannot confer any right or
       title on the party relying on them for proving their title.
       45. Observing that in a suit for declaration of title, the Plaintiffs-
       Respondents are to succeed only on the strength of their own title          D
       irrespective of whether the Defendants-Appellants have proved
       their case or not, in Union of India v. Vasavi Coop. Housing Society
       Limited, (2014) 2 SCC 269, it was held as under LSCC p.275,
       para 15)
       “15. It is trite law that, in a suit for declaration of title, the burden   E
       always lies on the Plaintiff to make out and establish a clear case
       for granting such a declaration and the weakness, if any, of the
       case set up by the Defendants would not be a ground to grant
       relief to the Plaintiff.””
        25. There cannot be any dispute to the proposition laid down by            F
this Court in the above cases. But coming to the facts in the present
case the present suit giving rise to this appeal, was not a suit for declaration
of title and possession rather the suit was filed for injunction. As noted
above, the High Court has given cogent reasons for holding that the suit
filed by the plaintiff for injunction was maintainable without entering into       G
the title of the plaintiff in facts of the present case specially in view of
the previous litigation which was initiated at the instance of defendant
No.1 where he lost the suit for declaration and recovery of possession
of the same property. The submission of learned counsel for the appellants
that evidence filed by the defendant were not looked into is not correct.
                                                                                   H
892                SUPREME COURT REPORTS                        [2021] 1 S.C.R.


A     The trial court as well as the High Court has looked into not only the oral
      evidence but the exhibits which were filed on behalf of the defendant
      which is clear from the discussion made by the High Court in paragraphs
      13 and 16.
             26. We do not find any error in the view of the High Court that it
B     was not necessary to enter into the validity of Exhibits A-1 and A-2 and
      the suit for injunction filed by the plaintiff deserved to be decreed on the
      basis of admitted and established possession of the plaintiff. We, thus,
      do not find any error in the judgment of the High Court allowing the
      second appeal filed by the plaintiff by setting aside the judgment of the
      First Appellate Court and restoring that of trial court.
C
             27. In the result, the appeal is dismissed.


      Ankit Gyan                                                   Appeal dismissed.


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