If someone occupies your Indian property without right, you can recover it through a civil suit for possession and mesne profits, and a criminal complaint where there is trespass or forgery. From New Zealand, you authorise an attorney holder by a power of attorney signed before a notary public with an apostille from the Department of Internal Affairs. A quicker summary suit applies if you were dispossessed within six months.
- Document route
- New Zealand notary public, then apostille from the Department of Internal Affairs
- Time difference
- New Zealand is 6h30 (NZ winter) to 7h30 (NZ summer) ahead of IST
- Quick remedy
- Section 6, Specific Relief Act
- Section 6 time limit
- 6 months from dispossession
Encroachment & Illegal Possession from New Zealand: how it works
We gather evidence of your ownership and possession, including deeds, tax receipts, utility bills and any caretaker arrangement. A local inspection confirms who is occupying and how long they have been there. A legal notice is sent, and if the trespass is recent, a police complaint is filed under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita provisions on criminal trespass. Punjab's NRI police wing and the state NRI Commission accept complaints from overseas owners and can help where threats are involved.
In the civil court, we sue for possession with an interim injunction that prevents the occupier from altering the property or handing it to someone else. If the occupier produces a document you never signed, we seek forensic examination and file a complaint for forgery. Your evidence is given by affidavit and, where the court allows, by video from New Zealand. After the decree, execution proceedings restore possession, with police help if required.
What clients in New Zealand should know
- Ask a trusted person to photograph the property every few months and keep the pictures dated; it builds a record of possession.
- A licensee such as a caretaker never acquires ownership by length of stay; a written licence agreement removes argument.
- Do not accept rent from an occupier you want to evict without advice, as it may be argued that a new tenancy was created.
Step by step from New Zealand
Video consultation
A call at a time that suits New Zealand, after we have read your documents.
Documents signed in New Zealand
New Zealand notary public, then apostille from the Department of Internal Affairs
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 New Zealand where needed.
The full guide
This page covers what changes when you are in New Zealand. 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 New Zealand and the NRI Property Law practice area.
Questions from clients in New Zealand
How quickly can the court stop the occupier making changes?
An interim injunction can be granted at the first hearing in urgent cases.
Can I recover rent for the period of occupation?
Yes, as mesne profits in the suit for possession.
Will the police evict the occupier?
Only in clear cases of fresh trespass; otherwise the court's decree is executed.