Section 6 Summary Suit versus Ordinary Possession Suit

There are two ways to recover possession of land, and they could hardly be more different. The Section 6 summary suit is a quick remedy on possession alone: a person dispossessed otherwise than by due process may recover possession within six months, without proving title. The ordinary possession suit under Section 5 is a full trial on title, within twelve years, with the usual rights of appeal. This note explains each in its own right, compares them, and works through an example.

Figure: The Section 6 summary suit and the ordinary possession suit compared, a quick fix against a full trial

1. The Section 6 Summary Suit in Its Own Right

The Section 6 suit rests on prior possession and dispossession otherwise than by due process; title is irrelevant. It must be brought within six months of dispossession, and it does not lie against the Government. It is summary in the strict sense: no appeal or review lies from the order, though the High Court's supervisory power remains. The decree it yields decides possession only, not title. Its purpose is to reverse forcible dispossession quickly and keep the peace, by forbidding anyone to take the law into his own hands.

2. The Ordinary Possession Suit in Its Own Right

The ordinary possession suit under Section 5 rests on title, or a better right to possess; the suit turns on who has the better right. It must be brought within twelve years, under Article 65 of the Limitation Act, and it lies against anyone wrongly in possession, including the Government. It is an ordinary civil suit, with the usual rights of appeal and review, and its decree decides both possession and, conclusively, title. Its purpose is not merely to restore possession but to settle who owns the land.

3. The Two Compared

4. A Quick Fix against a Full Trial

5. A Worked Example

Suppose B is forcibly evicted from a plot by A one night, without any order of court. B may bring a Section 6 summary suit within six months; the court will restore B to possession on proof that he was in possession and was dispossessed otherwise than by due process, without even asking who owns the plot, and no appeal will lie from that order. A, if he really is the owner, is not without remedy: he must bring an ordinary possession suit under Section 5, on the strength of his title, within twelve years, and recover the plot through the process of law, with the usual rights of appeal. The Section 6 suit undoes the forcible eviction at once; the Section 5 suit decides, in due course, who actually owns the plot.

6. Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is the difference between a Section 6 suit and an ordinary possession suit?
A. A Section 6 suit recovers possession on prior possession alone, within six months, without proving title and with no appeal; an ordinary Section 5 suit is a full trial on title, within twelve years, with the usual rights of appeal.

Q. Can title be gone into in a Section 6 suit?
A. No. Section 6 protects possession as such; title is irrelevant, and the decree decides possession only, not ownership.

Q. Does a Section 6 order carry a right of appeal?
A. No. No appeal or review lies from an order under Section 6, though the High Court's supervisory power remains; the ordinary possession suit carries the usual rights of appeal.

Q. Do the two suits conflict?
A. No. Section 6 keeps the peace in the short term; Section 5 settles ownership in the long term, and Section 6(4) preserves the right to sue on title.