Path blocked? 20 years makes it a right.

Myth or fact?

What people often think.

• Myth: I have used this path for years, so it is mine.
• Fact: Years alone are not enough. The use must be peaceable, open, as of right and without interruption, for twenty years (Limitation Act s.26(1)).

The three tests.

Section 26(1), Limitation Act.

• The usePeaceable and open.
• The claimAs of right, as an easement. Not as a favour.
• The timeTwenty years, without interruption.

Quick quiz. Government land.

Guess first, then swipe for the answer.

• A. 20 years
• B. 40 years
• C. 60 years

Answer: C. Section 26(2).

The rule in the law.

“Where the property over which a right is claimed under sub-section (1) belongs to the Government, that sub-section shall be read as if for the words "twenty years" the words "sixty years" were substituted.”

Limitation Act, 1908 · Section 26(2), Acquisition of right to easements

Not every wall counts.

The Explanation to section 26.

• InterruptionOnly an actual stop to your use, caused by someone else's obstruction.
• One yearAnd only if you put up with it for one year after you knew of it and who did it.

Do not wait too long.

Section 26(1), Limitation Act.

• The countThe twenty years must end within two years before your suit is filed.
• SoPath blocked? Get advice and file in time.

Myth or fact?

The permission trap.

• Myth: My neighbour always let me pass, so it is my right.
• Fact: Use by permission is a licence, not an easement (2013 MLD 398, Sindh High Court). A casual passage through a neighbour's courtyard is a licence too (1993 MLD 1481, Peshawar High Court).

Before you file.

Get these ready.

• WitnessesPeople who saw you use the path over the years.
• PapersOld photos, a site plan, any record that shows the path.
• The dateWhen the path was blocked, and by whom.

Path or water blocked?

Ask FAI in your own words. It answers with the exact section and the judgments behind it.

• My neighbour built a wall across the street we used for 30 years. What can I do?
• Draft a suit for a declaration of a right of way.

Example questions

Sources

• Limitation Act, 1908 · Section 26(2)
  Acquisition of right to easements Pakistan Code