Tenure & Ownership
What is an Easement?
The neighbour's path across your plot. The window that has always had light. After twenty years, these stop being courtesies and become rights.
The short answer
An easement is a right one landowner has OVER someone else's land — a right of way, a right to light and air, a right of drainage, a right of support.
They do not own the land. They have a right over it.
And after TWENTY YEARS of open, uninterrupted use as of right, an easement can become permanent — by prescription.
The kinds of easement
| Easement | What it means |
|---|---|
| Right of way | The commonest, and the most contentious. A neighbour has a right to cross your land to reach theirs — often the only access to a landlocked plot. |
| Right to light and air | A window that has enjoyed light for long enough acquires a right to it. You may not be able to build so as to block it. |
| Right of drainage | Water, sewage or rain from their land may pass through yours. |
| Right of support | Their building relies on yours, or on your land, for structural support. You cannot simply excavate. |
| Right to water | To draw water from a well, a stream or a tank on your land. |
An easement attaches to the LAND, not to the person. It passes with the property, to every future owner — which means an easement granted to a neighbour in 1974 binds you today, whether or not anyone told you about it.
Twenty years, and it becomes permanent
Under the Indian Easements Act, a right enjoyed peaceably, openly, as of right, and without interruption, for TWENTY YEARS, becomes an absolute and indefeasible easement.
Which means the neighbour's path across your plot — which you allowed as a courtesy, twenty-two years ago, because it seemed churlish not to — may now be a legal right you cannot revoke.
The elements matter:
• Openly — not secretly
• As of right — not by your PERMISSION. This is the crucial one.
• Without interruption — for the full twenty years
• Peaceably
Permissive use does not ripen into a prescriptive easement. Only use as of right does.
Which means the defence is simple, and it is a letter:
“You may cross my land with my permission, which I may withdraw at any time.”
Give it to the neighbour. Keep a copy. Renew it occasionally.
It costs nothing, it does not require you to be unpleasant to anyone, and it completely prevents twenty years of neighbourly tolerance from turning into a permanent right against your land.
What it means when you buy
An easement is attached to the land, not to a person. It survives every sale.
Which means an easement granted — or acquired by prescription — long before you were born binds you today.
You buy a plot to build a house. There is a right of way across the middle of it, in favour of the landlocked plot behind. You cannot build over it, and you cannot revoke it.
It is not on the sale deed. It is not on the encumbrance certificate. Nobody mentioned it, because nobody had to.
How to find them — because they do not appear where you would look
- GO AND LOOK. Walk the plot. Is there a path? A track? Tyre marks? A gate in a wall that leads somewhere? A worn path across a plot is the single best evidence of a right of way, and it costs nothing to notice.
- Ask the neighbours. Not the seller. The neighbours. “Does anyone cross this land?” They will tell you, and they have no reason not to.
- Look at the shajra / village map. Is the plot behind you landlocked? If it has no other access, it almost certainly has a right of way over someone — and that someone may be you.
- Check drainage. Where does the water from the plot above actually go?
- Look at windows overlooking your plot. Old windows may have acquired a right to light — which can constrain what you build.
- Ask your lawyer to check for recorded easements — but understand that prescriptive easements are, by definition, unrecorded. They exist because of use, not because of a document.
An easement acquired by twenty years of use appears in no document. Not the sale deed, not the encumbrance certificate, not the RERA filing.
It appears as a worn path across the grass.
Go and look at the land. With your own eyes. In daylight. And ask the neighbours what crosses it.
Frequently asked questions
What is an easement in property?
A right one landowner has over another's land — a right of way, a right to light and air, a right of drainage, a right of support. They do not own the land; they have a right over it. And the easement attaches to the LAND, so it passes with the property to every future owner.
How does someone acquire an easement?
By express grant, by necessity — or by PRESCRIPTION: twenty years of peaceable, open, uninterrupted enjoyment AS OF RIGHT makes it absolute and indefeasible. Which means a neighbour's path across your plot, allowed as a courtesy twenty-two years ago, may now be a legal right you cannot revoke.
How do I stop a neighbour acquiring a right of way over my land?
Permissive use does not ripen into a prescriptive easement — only use AS OF RIGHT does. So give them written permission: 'You may cross my land with my permission, which I may withdraw at any time.' Keep a copy, and renew it occasionally. It costs nothing, requires you to be unpleasant to nobody, and completely prevents twenty years of tolerance becoming a permanent right.
Do easements pass to a new owner?
Yes — an easement attaches to the land, not to a person, and survives every sale. Which means an easement granted or acquired long before you were born binds you today. You may buy a plot to build on and find a right of way across the middle of it that you cannot build over and cannot revoke.
How do I find out if there is an easement on a property?
Go and look. A worn path, a track, tyre marks, a gate in a wall leading somewhere — that is the best evidence there is, and it costs nothing to notice. Ask the neighbours, not the seller. Check whether the plot behind is landlocked, because if it has no other access it almost certainly has a right of way over someone. Prescriptive easements are, by definition, unrecorded — they appear in no document, only on the ground.