An owner living in Canada can recover property from an encroacher, tenant or relative in India through an attorney holder and counsel. The usual steps are a legal notice, a police complaint if there was trespass or forgery, and a civil suit for possession and injunction, with interim orders to stop sale or construction. Your own evidence can be recorded by video. Act quickly, because a possession suit based on title must be filed within twelve years of the occupation becoming hostile.
- Document route
- Notary or lawyer, then apostille from Global Affairs Canada or the provincial authority
- Time difference
- IST is 9h30 (Ontario, summer) to 13h30 (British Columbia, winter) ahead
- Quick remedy
- Section 6, Specific Relief Act
- Section 6 time limit
- 6 months from dispossession
Encroachment & Illegal Possession from Canada: how it works
We begin by obtaining the jamabandi, mutation history and girdawari entries for agricultural land, or the sale deed and municipal records for a house, to see whether the occupier has managed to get their name entered anywhere. You then sign an apostilled power of attorney in Canada authorising a relative or our nominee to file the suit and police complaint. If the occupier is planning to sell, we seek an urgent injunction, and we often ask the revenue officer to note the pending case in the records.
In court, the occupier commonly claims an oral gift, a sale agreement or long adverse possession. Your documents and the revenue entries are the answer, together with evidence that rent or crop share was paid to you. Punjab's NRI police units and the State Commission for NRIs can sometimes press a complaint forward, but they do not replace a civil suit. We keep you updated after each hearing, and plan one India visit only if the court insists on your personal appearance for cross-examination.
What clients in Canada should know
- Revenue records in Punjab can be altered by a mutation entered without notice to owners abroad, so check them annually even if nothing seems wrong.
- Payments received through Canadian bank transfers from the occupier can help prove a tenancy and defeat an adverse possession claim.
- If the occupier is a relative, a combined partition and possession suit may be more efficient than a pure eviction case.
Step by step from Canada
Video consultation
A call at a time that suits Canada, after we have read your documents.
Documents signed in Canada
Notary or lawyer, then apostille from Global Affairs Canada or the provincial authority
Work in India
Our team files, appears and follows up in India, and shares scans of everything filed.
Result and handover
Certified copies and originals are couriered to you in Canada where needed.
The full guide
This page covers what changes when you are in Canada. For the law, the documents and the step-by-step procedure, read our main page on Encroachment & Illegal Possession, or see all services for clients in Canada and the NRI Property Law practice area.
Questions from clients in Canada
Can the police remove an occupier?
Police act on criminal trespass or forgery, but possession is usually restored through a civil court decree. A complaint can still put useful pressure on the occupier.
How long does recovery take?
Interim protection can come within weeks; a final decree commonly takes a few years. Many cases settle once an injunction is in place.
My land has been sold by someone using a fake power of attorney. What now?
File a suit to cancel the sale deed and a criminal complaint for forgery and cheating. Act fast so the buyer cannot sell again.