Key facts
- The Calcutta High Court has ordered police to take custody of keys to a disputed property.
- The court ruled that property disputes, including title and possession, must be decided by civil courts, not criminal courts.
- The dispute is between the son of the deceased owner, Mr. Sasmal, and his stepbrother.
- A lower court's order granting possession of the house keys to Sasmal's son was overturned.
- The High Court directed police to act as neutral custodians of the property until a civil court resolves the matter.
The Calcutta High Court has intervened in a property dispute between the son of a deceased man, Mr. Sasmal, and his stepbrother, by ordering the police to take custody of the keys to the disputed house. The court emphasized that matters of title, succession, and possession of property fall exclusively within the jurisdiction of civil courts and cannot be adjudicated by criminal courts.
The dispute arose after Mr. Sasmal died on August 28, 2012. His stepbrother performed his last rites. Following his death, the Tollygunge Police Station locked his house on S.P. Mukherjee Road, citing the presence of valuables, and kept the keys. The police later informed the Chief Judicial Magistrate about this action.
Subsequently, both the stepbrother and the son sought custody of the keys. The Chief Judicial Magistrate, after receiving a police report verifying the son's identity, ordered the keys to be handed over to the son on January 18, 2024. The stepbrother contested this, highlighting that he had performed the last rites and that the criminal court lacked the jurisdiction to determine civil rights.
After the stepbrother's criminal case and subsequent appeal were dismissed, he approached the Calcutta High Court. The son's lawyer argued that as the legal heir, his client had a legitimate claim. However, the stepbrother's lawyer contended that the criminal court had overstepped its authority and that the Police Act's provisions regarding unclaimed property applied only to movable assets, not immovable property with contested ownership.
The Calcutta High Court, in an interim order dated May 22, 2026, found that the Chief Judicial Magistrate had acted without jurisdiction. The court directed the officer-in-charge of the Tollygunge Police Station to restore the keys and possession of the premises to the police within seven days. The police are to act as neutral custodians, preparing an inventory of the property's contents in the presence of both parties, without conferring any possessory or proprietary rights on either. The High Court explicitly stated that the adjudication of title, succession, or lawful possession remains open for a competent civil court.