Limitation Act 1963 / Sections 26 and 27

Sections 26 and 27 of the Limitation Act 1963: Reversioner of Servient Tenement and Extinguishment of Property Rights

Sections 26 and 27 of the Limitation Act, 1963 deal with important consequences of lapse of time in relation to property. Section 26 protects a qualifying reversioner of a servient tenement when computing the prescriptive period for an easement. Section 27 provides that, on expiry of the limitation period prescribed for a suit for possession of property, the person's right to that property is extinguished.

Section 26 - Exclusion in favour of reversioner of servient tenement

Section 26 qualifies the computation of the twenty-year period relevant to acquisition of an easement by prescription under Section 25.

What is a servient tenement?

In easement law, the property on which the liability or burden of an easement is imposed is commonly described as the servient heritage or servient tenement. The property for whose beneficial enjoyment the easement exists is commonly called the dominant heritage or dominant tenement. Section 26 concerns the position of the person who becomes entitled to the relevant servient land or water after termination of the specified life interest or term.

Conditions relevant under Section 26

• The land or water over which the easement has been enjoyed must have been held under the type of interest specified in Section 26.
• The provision refers to an interest for life or a term of years exceeding three years from its grant.
• The period of enjoyment during continuance of that interest or term may be excluded from computation of the twenty-year prescriptive period.
• The statutory protection depends on the claim being resisted within three years after determination of the interest or term by the person then entitled to the land or water.

Section 27 - Extinguishment of right to property

Section 27 has a consequence different from an ordinary rule that merely bars a remedy after expiry of limitation. It expressly addresses the underlying right to property.

Meaning and legal effect of Section 27

The provision operates in relation to the period prescribed for instituting a suit for possession of property. When the applicable limitation period expires in the circumstances contemplated by Section 27, the statute provides for extinguishment of the person's right to that property.

The applicable limitation period must be identified from the relevant provision and Article in the Schedule. The legal result in a particular dispute depends on the nature of the property, the character of possession, the date from which limitation begins to run, and any applicable statutory rule affecting computation.

Difference between Sections 25, 26 and 27

• Section 25 deals with acquisition of specified easements by prescription after the statutory conditions and period are satisfied.
• Section 26 provides an exclusion protecting a qualifying reversioner of the servient tenement when the twenty-year easement period is computed.
• Section 27 provides for extinguishment of the right to property when the prescribed period for instituting a suit for possession expires.

Practical application

Application of Sections 26 and 27 requires careful examination of the relevant property interest, possession or enjoyment, the applicable Schedule Article, the date on which limitation began, and any statutory exclusions or extensions. In an easement dispute, the nature and duration of the interest in the servient property and the timing of resistance to the easement claim may be material under Section 26.

This article is a general explanation of the Limitation Act, 1963. The official statutory text, applicable Schedule Article, property and easement law, pleadings, evidence and binding judicial decisions should be considered for a particular dispute.