“Find your way”- where is easement?

The digitalization of land records especially newly written Jamabandies is nearly completion and have been almost quality checked and after it will be made available for public domain. Really it is a bold initiative by the Revenue department yet it has many loopholes. After the settlement in 1887, land lords were going to their fields for different types of agricultural related works through many fields of different land holders proprietary land and even one zamindar was irrigating his/her fields by bringing water from far off places through the fields of different zamindars and even in last decade tractors with trolleys were running through different fields of zamindars and there was no body to refuse for these so called easements. The Indian Easement Act came into force on first day 0f july,1882. Easement is a right which the owner or the occupier of certain land possesses, as such for the beneficial enjoyment of that land, to do and continue to do something, or to prevent something being done, in or upon, or in respect of certain land not his own.
Illustrations:
(a) Rajesh as the owner of a certain house has a right of way over his neighbor Rajab’s land for the purpose of beneficial enjoyment of the house.
(b) An owner of a certain house has the right to go through neighbor’s land to get water from the tap, koul, spring, well , etc.
(c) Any house owner with a vegetable nursery has the right to conduct water from the stream running through his neighour’s house.
These all are easements: An easement may be permanent, or for a term of years or other limited period. Easements are either continuous or discontinuous, or for a particular purpose. The right of every owner of land that within his own limits the water which naturally passes or percolates by over or through his land shall not before so passing or percolating, he unreasonably polluted by other persons. The right of every owner of land the water of every natural stream which passes by through or over his land in a defined-natural channel shall be allowed by other persons to flow within such owner’s limits without interruption and without material alteration in quantity, direction.
A person from main town of Anantnag came to District Record Room Anantnag and submitted an application for certified copy of a mutation copy, this author saw another application lying in his hand and asked him of what purpose the second application is meant for and he explained that my house has a road access but the road runs through neighbour’s land. We have purchased the house twenty years ago and the vendee has assured that we can use the way which he was using earlier and the same has been mentioned in the agreement also. Now my neighour has passed away two years back and his sons have issue with other house owners and he has closed the path and we are not able to walk up to road smoothly. My concern is do we have rights to use that way by walk. Can I sell the house without any trouble and can I have the right to give the same benefits to the new person who can purchase the house. This author told him that as per the facts mentioned you have the right to easement as every person has the basic rights of living. If you are using that land for so many years and there is no other way then there would not be any problem with you using that land. Right to easement is a basic right and that cannot be denied by anybody. If there is no alternate path then the neighbor cannot deny you the access of the path. And if he does then you have all the rights to move to the court seeking relief under the law. This is an example of the day and there are many people who come across such problems day in and day out. Somebody purchases land and constructs the house upon it and after entering the house for living instead of feeling happiness he feels sad because the neighbours have not allowed him to use their land for coming to his house from the main road. Now a days convergence of land is taking place on the war footing basis. Any land holder converges his land into an orchard and fences the boundaries of his land by erased wires resulting many other land holders cannot reach to their fields and such problems are seen everywhere. When such persons ask for the closure of easement reply comes “find your own way”? And even revenue department fails to solve the problem resulting many litigation are there in courts from so many years waiting for the judgement. It was also found that even a revenue officers when visits such a site fails to make effect of easement law on spot. Department of revenue has a major responsibility to think the answer about this question “find your way” as per easement law.
(The author is Incharge District Record Room DC Office Anantnag. The views, opinions, facts, assumptions, presumptions and conclusions expressed in this article are author’s own and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”.)

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