Saraswathie Duraisamy vs S. Manickarasa – SC APPEAL 69/2020-2024

The case between Saraswathie Duraisamy and S. Manickarasa involved a dispute over a portion of land where a claim of adverse possession was asserted by the defendant, who had originally entered the premises as a licensee of the registered owner. The legal issue addressed whether a licensee could acquire prescriptive title by demonstrating an overt act that transformed subordinate possession into independent, adverse possession. It was determined that the absence of any overt act to alter the nature of possession from a licensee to that of adverse possessor prevented the establishment of prescriptive title. The decision reaffirmed the principle that a licensee remains in a subordinate role unless clear evidence indicates an intentional and overt change, relying on precedents such as Ashar v