Recovery Of Possession For Residential Property

Here is a practical guide to recovery of possession for a residential property, written for owners, buyers and families in Delhi NCR and elsewhere in India. The firm of Advocate B.K. Singh handles this work from offices in Dwarka, New Delhi and Vaishali, Ghaziabad.

In short. Recovery of possession means getting immovable property back from someone occupying it without right. The route depends on who is inside: a trespasser or licensee is sued in the civil court, a protected tenant goes before the Rent Controller or Rent Authority, a bank uses SARFAESI, and agricultural land goes to the revenue court. Force is never the answer.

Recovery of possession is the legal work of getting your property back when someone else is sitting in it and will not leave. The person inside may be a stranger who broke a lock, a caretaker or employee who was allowed in, a tenant whose lease has ended, a relative who now claims a share, a buyer whose deal fell through, or a borrower whose loan account has turned bad. The law gives a remedy against each of them, but the remedy is different in each case, and choosing the wrong one at the start can cost a year or more.

This article explains the routes available under Indian law, how to pick the right one, what the court or authority will ask you to prove, how long it usually takes, what it costs in general terms, and how the answer changes with the kind of property, the kind of occupant and the city. It also covers the part people forget: a decree for possession is only paper until it is executed, and execution needs its own planning.

Law

Specific Relief Act 1963 (s.5 and s.6); Transfer of Property Act 1882 (s.106, s.111); Indian Easements Act 1882 (s.52 to 64 on licences); CPC 1908 (Order 39, Order 40, Order 20 rule 12, Order 21 rules 35 to 101); Delhi Rent Control Act 1958; UP Regulation of Urban Premises Tenancy Act 2021; SARFAESI Act 2002 (s.13 and s.14); revenue laws for agricultural land

Forum

Civil court with jurisdiction over the property (Delhi High Court original side above Rs 2 crore); commercial court for property used exclusively in trade or commerce; Rent Controller or Rent Authority for protected tenants; CMM or District Magistrate under SARFAESI; revenue court for agricultural land; Estate Officer for public premises

Time limit

Section 6 suit within 6 months of dispossession; title-based suit within 12 years (Limitation Act Art. 64 and 65); landlord against tenant within 12 years of the end of the tenancy (Art. 67); borrower's challenge to SARFAESI possession within 45 days (s.17)

Documents

Title deed or allotment, mutation and tax records, lease, licence or agreement with the occupant, termination notice and proof of service, photographs, police complaints, site plan

Typical time

A section 6 suit or a summary eviction under rent law can finish in months; a contested title suit with execution often takes two to five years

What recovery of possession means and why the route matters

Recovery of possession is the general name for every legal process that puts an owner, landlord, licensor or lender back in physical control of immovable property. There is no single form or single court for it. The law asks one question first: on what footing did the present occupant come in, and on what footing does he stay? The answer decides the forum, the time limit and the evidence you will need.

A trespasser who entered without any permission is in a different position from a licensee who was allowed to stay as a favour, and both are different from a tenant who pays rent under a lease. A co-owner cannot simply be thrown out by another co-owner. A borrower who mortgaged the property to a bank faces a statutory procedure that bypasses the civil court altogether. Agricultural land in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana is often outside the civil court's reach because the revenue law gives exclusive jurisdiction to revenue courts.

Before anything is filed, the occupant's status has to be fixed on paper. In the files that come to Advocate B.K. Singh, the most common early mistake is a landlord treating a protected tenant as a licensee and filing a civil suit, or an owner treating a long-standing occupant as a mere trespasser without checking how long he has been there. Both mistakes give the other side an easy objection to jurisdiction or limitation, and both are avoidable with an hour of document review.

Routes for recovery of possession by type of occupant

The law behind recovery of possession

Why you should not take possession back by force

Do not break in, change the locks, cut the electricity or remove the occupant's goods, even if you hold a clean title deed. Indian courts protect settled possession, even the possession of someone with no title, against eviction otherwise than by due process of law. An owner who uses force hands the occupant a section 6 suit, an injunction and often a criminal complaint for house-trespass or intimidation.

The narrow exception is a trespasser who has just entered and has not settled in. An owner who discovers a stranger putting up a wall on his plot the same week can resist the intrusion and call the police, because the trespasser has not yet acquired possession the law will protect. Once the occupant has been in peaceful occupation for some time, with the owner's knowledge, the only safe route is the court or the statutory authority.

The police will usually treat a possession dispute as civil and decline to evict anyone. They will act on a fresh criminal trespass, and a complaint helps build the record, but do not expect the SHO to hand over keys. If a criminal trespass case is filed, run it alongside the civil remedy rather than instead of it.

Recovering possession from a trespasser

If a trespasser threw you out within the last six months, file a suit under section 6 of the Specific Relief Act at once. You need to show that you were in possession, for example through electricity and water bills, a guard's register, photographs, neighbours' statements or earlier police complaints, and that you were removed without consent. The six months run from the date of dispossession, so a person thrown out on 15 April must file before 15 October.

If the six months have passed, or the trespasser has been there for years, the suit is under section 5 based on your title, within 12 years. Here you must prove ownership through the registered sale deed, conveyance deed, lease from the authority, gift deed, partition or probated will, backed by the earlier chain and revenue or municipal records. Where the trespasser sets up a rival document, add a prayer for declaration of title and, if needed, cancellation of his document. A possession suit of this kind should always ask for mesne profits too.

Watch for adverse possession. A person who has held the property openly, continuously and hostile to the owner for 12 years can claim title. Courts apply this strictly and the burden is on the occupant, but owners who ignore an encroachment for a decade put themselves at risk. If you have just found an encroachment, act within weeks, and if there is a threat of further dispossession, ask the court for a stay against dispossession while the suit is pending.

Recovering possession from a licensee, caretaker or employee

A licensee holds the property only with your permission, so the first step is to revoke that permission in writing. Send a notice by registered post and email ending the licence, giving a reasonable time to vacate and demanding damages for use and occupation after that date. A well-drafted legal notice for possession sets out how the occupant came in, why the permission has ended and what you will claim if he stays.

The typical licensees are a caretaker or chowkidar given a room, an employee given company accommodation, a relative allowed to stay as a favour, a friend who was to stay for a few months, and a person holding under a leave and licence agreement. Courts look at the substance, not the label. An agreement called a licence that gives exclusive possession for a fixed rent with no control by the owner may be held to be a lease, and if a rent law applies, the civil court will lose jurisdiction.

Licensee suits often end early. If the defendant admits that he came in with your permission and has no document of title, the court can pass judgment on admissions under Order 12 rule 6 CPC without a full trial. Courts in Delhi also commonly direct the occupant to pay use and occupation charges into court while the suit is pending, which takes away much of the incentive to drag it out.

Recovering possession from a tenant

Whether a tenant can be evicted through a civil suit depends on whether a rent law protects him. In Delhi, the Delhi Rent Control Act 1958 does not apply to premises let for more than Rs 3,500 a month, so most modern tenancies in Delhi fall outside it and the landlord files a civil suit after ending the lease. Older, low-rent tenancies remain under the Act, and eviction is possible only on the grounds in section 14, such as non-payment, subletting, misuse or the landlord's bona fide need under section 14(1)(e). Bona fide need cases follow a summary procedure under section 25B, where the tenant must seek leave to defend within 15 days.

In Uttar Pradesh, the UP Regulation of Urban Premises Tenancy Act 2021 requires tenancies to be in writing and reported to the Rent Authority, and eviction applications go to the Rent Authority with appeals to the Rent Tribunal. In Haryana, the rent law applies to urban areas and eviction petitions go to the Rent Controller. Each law lists its own grounds, and the procedure in each is different from a civil suit. A rent control petition under the right Act is the starting point for a protected tenant.

Where no rent law applies, end the tenancy with a proper notice under section 106 of the Transfer of Property Act, or let the lease expire, and then file an eviction suit for possession, arrears and damages. Keep the notice of termination of tenancy, the postal receipts and the tracking report together, because the first defence in almost every eviction suit is that the notice was never received.

Recovering possession from family members and co-owners

Family cases are the hardest because the occupant usually claims a right, not just permission. A son or daughter-in-law living in a parent's self-acquired house is generally a licensee and can be asked to leave, but the court will look carefully at any claim that the house is ancestral or joint family property, and at the right of residence that a woman has in a shared household under section 17 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005. That right is weighed against the owner's rights; it is not an automatic bar to eviction.

Senior citizens have a separate route. The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act 2007 sets up tribunals, usually headed by the SDM, and Delhi's rules under that Act provide a procedure for a senior citizen to seek eviction of a son, daughter or legal heir from his or her property through the district administration. This route is quicker than a civil suit, but the tribunal's order can be challenged, and it does not decide disputed questions of title.

A co-owner cannot recover exclusive possession from another co-owner, because each co-owner is entitled to possession of every part of the joint property. The remedy is partition, by agreement or by a partition suit, with a claim for the share of rent or profits. If a co-owner has let the property out or is using all of it to your exclusion, the partition suit should ask for accounts as well.

Bank recovery of possession under SARFAESI

A bank or NBFC with a mortgage over the property does not need to file a suit to take possession. Once the account is a non-performing asset, the lender issues a demand notice under section 13(2) of the SARFAESI Act giving 60 days to pay. If the borrower does not pay, the authorised officer can take possession under section 13(4). The lender usually takes symbolic possession first, by notice and publication, and then applies to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate or District Magistrate under section 14 for help in taking physical possession. The magistrate is to try to pass orders within 30 days, extendable to 60 days in all.

The borrower, a guarantor or any affected person, including a tenant, can challenge the measures before the Debts Recovery Tribunal under section 17 within 45 days. If the DRT finds the measures unlawful it can restore possession. SARFAESI does not apply to agricultural land or to loans below Rs 1 lakh, and the procedure in the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules 2002 must be followed at each step. A section 17 SARFAESI application is the borrower's main remedy, and timing it before the auction matters.

An auction purchaser sometimes finds that the bank sold the property with an occupant still inside. The purchaser's remedy is to press the bank to complete the section 14 process, because physical possession is part of what the bank sold. A tenant who can show a genuine tenancy created before the mortgage, or in accordance with the law, may have protection, and that question is usually decided by the DRT or the magistrate in the SARFAESI proceedings rather than by a fresh civil suit.

Government, authority and public premises

Premises belonging to the Central Government, its companies and many statutory bodies are recovered under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act 1971. The Estate Officer issues a show cause notice, hears the occupant and passes an eviction order, and can also assess damages for unauthorised use. An appeal lies to the district judge, and the civil court cannot entertain a suit on matters the Act covers.

Development authorities such as DDA, Noida, Greater Noida and GDA have their own powers to cancel allotments and resume plots for breach of lease conditions, non-payment or misuse. Where an authority is trying to take possession from you, the remedy is usually a representation, a statutory appeal or a writ petition in the High Court. Where you are the allottee and someone else is occupying your allotted unit, the authority will not evict him for you; you file a civil suit like any other owner.

Agricultural land and revenue courts

Recovery of possession of agricultural land usually goes to the revenue court, not the civil court. In Delhi, a bhumidhar can sue a person occupying land without title for ejectment under section 84 of the Delhi Land Reforms Act 1954, before the Revenue Assistant, with appeals to the Deputy Commissioner and the Financial Commissioner. In Uttar Pradesh, the UP Revenue Code 2006 provides for a suit for ejectment of a person occupying land without title in the revenue court, and Gaon Sabha land is protected through separate eviction proceedings before the Assistant Collector.

The line between agricultural and non-agricultural land matters. Once land has been declared for non-agricultural use, or lies in an urbanised village or within municipal limits, the civil court may have jurisdiction instead. In Haryana, the forum depends on whether the occupant claims to be a tenant under the tenancy law or is a mere trespasser. Get the khasra and khatauni or jamabandi entries, the latest girdawari and any land use declaration before deciding where to file, because a suit in the wrong court is returned after months of hearings.

How a recovery of possession case runs, step by step

The order below fits a typical civil suit; the rent law and SARFAESI routes follow their own steps but start the same way.

1. Fix your title and the occupant's status

   Collect the title chain, mutation, tax receipts and any agreement with the occupant. Write down when and how the occupant came in, what he has paid and what he has signed. This one page decides the forum and the limitation period.

2. Get the record of possession

   Photographs with dates, electricity and water bills, society letters, CCTV clips and earlier complaints show who was in possession and when. For a section 6 suit, this record is the whole case.

3. End the permission or tenancy in writing

   Send a termination or revocation notice by registered post and email, keeping postal receipts and tracking. Give a reasonable time and claim damages for use and occupation after that date.

4. File in the right forum with interim relief

   File the suit or petition with an application under Order 39 to restrain the occupant from creating third-party rights, altering the property or parting with possession. Where there is a risk of waste, ask for a receiver under Order 40 or for deposit of use and occupation charges.

5. Push for an early decision

   Ask for judgment on admissions under Order 12 rule 6 where the defendant admits the basic facts. Oppose adjournments, file evidence by affidavit on time and keep witnesses ready.

6. Execute the decree

   File execution under Order 21 rule 35 promptly. The court's bailiff, with police help if ordered, delivers possession. Be ready to answer objections by third parties under rules 97 to 101.

Mesne profits and use and occupation charges

Possession and money go together. Mesne profits are the profits the occupant made or could reasonably have made from the property during wrongful possession, with interest. The court can decree past mesne profits along with possession and order an enquiry into future mesne profits until delivery under Order 20 rule 12 CPC. The usual measure is the market rent of similar property in the area, supported by rent agreements, broker evidence or a valuer's report.

Claim mesne profits from the date the occupant's right ended, which is usually the date the notice period expired. Pay the court fee on the amount claimed for the past period and ask for an enquiry for the future. Courts in Delhi frequently direct deposit of use and occupation charges during the suit, and an occupant who has to pay market rent every month has much less reason to delay. A separate mesne profits claim is also possible if possession was recovered without one.

Execution: turning the decree into actual possession

A decree for possession does not move anyone out on its own. You file an execution petition in the court that passed the decree, or the court to which it is transferred, and the court issues a warrant for delivery of possession. The bailiff goes to the property, removes the judgment-debtor and anyone bound by the decree, and hands over possession, often with police assistance. The occupant's goods are removed and an inventory is made.

The most common delay is obstruction by a third person who claims an independent right, often a relative or a tenant inducted during the suit. Under Order 21 rules 97 to 101, the executing court decides that claim itself, and a person who came in from the judgment-debtor during the suit is bound by the decree. This is why an injunction against parting with possession at the start of the case is so useful: it prevents the defendant from planting a new occupant. Read more on execution of decree before the decree is passed, not after.

How recovery of possession differs by property type

For a flat in a group housing society, the society's records, maintenance bills and parking allotment are useful evidence of who was in possession, and the society can be asked to stop issuing access cards to the occupant once a court order is passed. For a builder floor, check whether the occupant is on one floor or claims a share of the terrace or roof rights. For a vacant plot, possession is shown through boundary walls, gates, a guard and photographs, and an encroachment can happen overnight, so speed matters.

For a shop, office, godown or industrial shed used exclusively in trade or commerce, a dispute arising from a lease or licence of that property is a commercial dispute under the Commercial Courts Act 2015 if the specified value is Rs 3 lakh or more. Pre-institution mediation under section 12A then applies unless urgent interim relief is sought. Industrial plots on authority land also need the authority's consent for any change in occupation, and a sub-lessee occupying without that consent is in a weak position.

For a farmhouse, check whether the land is recorded as agricultural, because that may take the case to the revenue court. For inherited property, sort out the heirs first: if the occupant is himself a legal heir, the case is one of partition, not eviction. For leasehold property from DDA, Noida, Greater Noida or GDA, a decree for possession does not change the authority's records, so follow up with the authority after recovery.

How the answer changes with the person or organisation involved

An NRI owner can run the entire case through a special power of attorney executed before the Indian consulate, with evidence by affidavit and, where courts permit, cross-examination by video link. The attorney should have personal knowledge of the facts or be supported by documents, because a power of attorney holder cannot depose to facts known only to the principal. A company or LLP needs a board resolution authorising the person who signs the plaint and gives evidence.

A bank or NBFC recovering mortgaged property uses SARFAESI rather than a civil suit, but a bank that is a landlord or owner of its own premises follows the ordinary routes like anyone else. A builder trying to recover a unit from an allottee whose allotment was cancelled must show that the cancellation followed the agreement and the RERA rules; homebuyers can contest a cancellation before RERA or the consumer commission. A government department or PSU uses the Public Premises Act where it applies.

Recovery of possession in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurugram

In Delhi, civil suits for possession are filed in the district court complex with jurisdiction over the property, such as Tis Hazari, Saket, Patiala House, Karkardooma, Rohini or Dwarka, and on the original side of the Delhi High Court where the value exceeds Rs 2 crore. Rent Controllers sit in the same complexes. Cases about agricultural land go to the Revenue Assistant of the district.

In Noida and Greater Noida, suits go to the Gautam Buddh Nagar district court at Surajpur, and tenancy matters go to the Rent Authority under the 2021 Act. In Ghaziabad, the district court at Ghaziabad and the local Rent Authority handle these matters, and revenue suits are heard in the tehsil and collectorate courts. In Gurugram, civil suits are heard in the district court and rent cases by the Rent Controller. Across all four, SARFAESI section 14 applications go to the CMM in Delhi and the District Magistrate in the other districts.

Documents needed for recovery of possession

Mistakes that delay recovery of possession

The mistakes repeat. Owners wait years hoping the occupant will leave on his own, and by the time they act the limitation or adverse possession question has arisen. They send a notice by ordinary courier with no proof of delivery. They file a civil suit against a tenant who is protected by rent law. They sue for possession without seeking a declaration when the defendant openly disputes title. They forget to ask for an injunction against parting with possession, and find a new occupant in the property when the bailiff arrives.

Another frequent problem is a weak description of the property. The plaint must describe the property so precisely that the bailiff can identify it years later: the plot or flat number, floor, boundaries, area and a site plan. When a recovery of possession matter is reviewed in Advocate B.K. Singh's office, the plaint description is checked against the title deed and the site before anything else, because an error there can make the decree hard to execute.

Finally, do not litigate when a short, documented settlement would do. An occupant with no real claim often leaves when he receives a firm notice and sees that a case will be filed, especially if he is told that he will owe market rent for every month he stays. Litigation is the right tool when the occupant claims a right, refuses to engage or is likely to induct others.

What to do this week

Gather your title documents and every paper showing how the occupant came in. Photograph the property and keep the photographs with dates. If someone has dispossessed you in the last few weeks, note the date, file a police complaint and speak to a lawyer immediately, because the six-month window under section 6 is short. If the occupant is a licensee or a tenant outside rent law, send a clear written notice ending the arrangement. If the property is mortgaged and you are the borrower facing a section 13(4) notice, the 45-day limit for the DRT starts running from the measure, so do not wait for the auction notice.

Before choosing the forum, get the title and the occupant's status checked. A short title verification can avoid a suit that fails on a basic objection. If you want the papers checked before you act, the team of Advocate B.K. Singh at Legals365 can review them and tell you the next step: talk to a lawyer.

Residential property: what changes

Residential property covers houses, builder floors, flats in group housing societies and apartments in developer projects. It is the property people care about most, and the law gives it more protection than commercial premises: consumer remedies against builders, rent control for old tenancies, special rules for senior citizens and family members. It also carries more family disputes than any other kind of asset.

The documents depend on the type. For an independent house or builder floor in Delhi, ask for the chain of sale deeds or the conveyance deed from DDA, the sanctioned building plan, the completion certificate, mutation in MCD records, the latest property tax receipt and electricity and water bills. For a flat in a cooperative group housing society, ownership runs through membership: the share certificate, the society's NOC and the Registrar of Cooperative Societies' approval of the transfer matter as much as the deed. For a flat in a developer project in Noida, Greater Noida or Gurugram, check the RERA registration, the builder-buyer agreement, the occupancy certificate, the tripartite sub-lease or conveyance deed, and whether the builder has paid the land dues to the authority, since unpaid dues have held up registration for thousands of buyers.

Stamp duty is charged on the higher of the price and the circle rate. Delhi charges women buyers a lower rate, and joint purchases fall in between; Uttar Pradesh and Haryana have their own concessions. Registration is at the sub-registrar office for the area, with both parties and two witnesses present. After registration, mutation in the municipal or authority record should be applied for, since it governs property tax and later dealings, even though mutation is not proof of title.

Disputes tend to fall into a few groups. Against builders: delayed possession, reduced area, poor construction and missing amenities, which go to the RERA authority or the consumer commission at the buyer's choice. Between landlord and tenant: old tenancies with rent up to ₹3,500 a month in Delhi are governed by the Delhi Rent Control Act 1958, where eviction for the landlord's bona fide need under section 14(1)(e) is the usual route; newer tenancies are contractual and go to the civil court or the rent authority under any new tenancy law the state has adopted. Within families: partition, wills and succession, and disputes over who may live in the house. Senior citizens can approach the Maintenance Tribunal under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act 2007, which in appropriate cases has ordered children to vacate a parent's house. A wife's right to reside in the shared household under the Domestic Violence Act 2005 can also affect who stays in a property.

A few habits prevent most problems. Never buy on a GPA and agreement to sell alone. Insist on the occupancy or completion certificate. Keep original documents safe and certified copies handy. And put family arrangements about a house in writing, ideally a registered partition or family settlement, before a death or a marriage breakdown turns them into litigation.

Frequently asked questions

How can I get possession of my property back legally in India?

Identify the occupant's status first. A trespasser or licensee is sued in the civil court, a tenant protected by rent law is taken to the Rent Controller or Rent Authority, and agricultural land goes to the revenue court. Send a written notice, file in the right forum with an injunction application, and execute the decree once you have it.

Can I evict a trespasser myself without going to court?

Only if he has just entered and has not settled in, and even then the safe course is to call the police. Once a person is in settled possession, removing him by force exposes you to a section 6 suit and criminal complaints. Use the court process.

What is the time limit to file a suit for recovery of possession?

A suit under section 6 of the Specific Relief Act must be filed within six months of dispossession. A suit based on title can be filed within 12 years under Articles 64 and 65 of the Limitation Act. A landlord has 12 years from the end of the tenancy under Article 67.

How long does a recovery of possession case take?

A section 6 suit or a bona fide need case under the Delhi Rent Control Act can finish within months to a year. A contested title suit with execution often takes two to five years. Interim orders for deposit of use and occupation charges and judgment on admissions can shorten it.

Can a licensee claim to be a tenant to avoid eviction?

He can try, and courts look at the substance of the arrangement, not its label. If he had exclusive possession for a fixed periodic payment without your control, a court may treat it as a lease. Written agreements, the absence of rent receipts and admissions in messages usually decide this.

Can a bank take possession of my house without a court order?

Yes, under section 13(4) of the SARFAESI Act a bank can take possession of a mortgaged property after a 60-day demand notice, and it gets physical possession through the CMM or District Magistrate under section 14. You can challenge the measures in the DRT under section 17 within 45 days.

Can I recover possession from my son or daughter-in-law?

If the house is your self-acquired property, a son or daughter-in-law living there is usually a licensee and can be asked to leave through a civil suit or, for senior citizens, through the tribunal under the Senior Citizens Act and Delhi's rules. The daughter-in-law's right of residence under the Domestic Violence Act is weighed by the court, so evidence matters.

What is mesne profits in a possession case?

Mesne profits are the money the wrongful occupant should pay for the period he held the property, usually measured by market rent, with interest. The court can award past mesne profits with the decree for possession and order an enquiry into future mesne profits until possession is delivered.

Can I file a recovery of possession case in Lok Adalat?

A pending possession suit can be referred to Lok Adalat, and a pre-litigation case can be taken there, but only if both sides agree to settle. A Lok Adalat award is final and executable like a decree. If the occupant will not agree, the matter goes back to the regular court.

Does the police help in recovery of possession?

The police do not decide possession disputes and usually decline to evict anyone without a court order. They act on fresh criminal trespass and provide assistance when the court orders it during execution. A police complaint is still useful as evidence of dates and events.

What if a third person resists when the decree is executed?

The executing court decides the obstructor's claim under Order 21 rules 97 to 101 within the execution itself. A person who came into the property from the defendant during the suit is bound by the decree. An injunction against parting with possession at the start of the suit helps prevent this.

Is a commercial shop or warehouse possession case filed in the commercial court?

If the dispute arises from an agreement about property used exclusively in trade or commerce and the specified value is Rs 3 lakh or more, it is a commercial dispute and goes to the commercial court. Pre-institution mediation under section 12A applies unless you seek urgent interim relief.

Should I go to RERA or the consumer commission against my builder?

You can choose either, as the Supreme Court held in Newtech Promoters v State of UP (2021), but not both for the same relief. RERA is often quicker for refund or delay interest under section 18; the consumer commission can also award compensation for deficiency in service. The choice depends on the amount, the relief you want and how far the project has progressed.

Can my son be evicted from my house if he harasses me?

In many cases, yes. The Maintenance Tribunal under the Senior Citizens Act 2007 has power to protect a parent's property and life, and courts have upheld eviction orders against children in suitable cases. The parent's ownership of the house and evidence of ill-treatment are the key facts.