S.M. Mohamed Cassim vs Abdul Muthalif Abdul Azeez – SC/APPEAL/72/2011-2024

In the case between S.M. Mohamed Cassim (Plaintiff-Appellant) and Abdul Muthalif Abdul Azeez (Defendant-Respondent), the court addressed the dispute over ownership of a specific parcel of land, focusing on conflicting claims of paper title and prescriptive title. It was determined that the plaintiff’s paper title was superior, as the defendant’s subsequent deed could not invalidate the earlier title, and the requirements for prescriptive title were not satisfied. The court reaffirmed the principle that ownership by paper title prevails in the absence of a legally valid claim of prescriptive title, where such claim must be expressly raised and supported by evidence. This decision relied on the statutory framework governing land registration and prescriptive title, emphasizing that prescript