If someone is occupying your Indian property without right, you can recover it through a civil suit for possession and mesne profits, and a criminal complaint where there is trespass or forgery. From the UAE, you authorise an attorney holder by a power of attorney attested through the UAE notary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Indian mission. If you were dispossessed within six months, a quicker summary suit is available.
- Document route
- UAE notary, MOFA attestation, then Indian Embassy or Consulate attestation
- Time difference
- IST is 1h30 ahead of UAE time all year (no daylight saving)
- Quick remedy
- Section 6, Specific Relief Act
- Section 6 time limit
- 6 months from dispossession
Encroachment & Illegal Possession from the UAE: how it works
We gather evidence of your ownership and possession: the deed, property tax and electricity bills in your name, photographs and any caretaker agreement. A local inspection confirms who is occupying and since when. A legal notice is sent and, where the trespass is recent, a police complaint is filed under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. States with large Gulf diasporas, such as Kerala and Punjab, have NRI cells that accept complaints from abroad, and we use them to add pressure.
In the civil court, we sue for possession with an interim injunction against any alteration or transfer of the property. If the occupier produces a sale agreement or tenancy document you never signed, we challenge it and seek forensic examination of signatures, with a criminal complaint for forgery where appropriate. You can give evidence by affidavit and, where the court allows, by video from the UAE. After the decree, execution restores possession with police assistance if needed.
What clients in the UAE should know
- Keep electricity and property tax in your own name and pay them from your NRO account; it is strong evidence of possession.
- A relative living in your house with permission is a licensee and cannot claim ownership by long stay.
- Do not sign papers sent from India by an occupier, such as a rent agreement backdated to an earlier year, without advice.
Step by step from the UAE
Video consultation
A call at a time that suits the UAE, after we have read your documents.
Documents signed in the UAE
UAE notary, MOFA attestation, then Indian Embassy or Consulate attestation
Work in India
Our team files, appears and follows up in India, and shares scans of everything filed.
Result and handover
Certified copies and originals are couriered to you in the UAE where needed.
The full guide
This page covers what changes when you are in the UAE. For the law, the documents and the step-by-step procedure, read our main page on Encroachment & Illegal Possession, or see all services for clients in the UAE and the NRI Property Law practice area.
Questions from clients in the UAE
Can I get an injunction quickly from the UAE?
Yes. Once the attested documents reach India, an urgent application can be heard at the first hearing.
Can I recover compensation for the period of occupation?
Yes, as mesne profits in the same suit.
Will the police remove the occupier?
In clear cases of fresh trespass, sometimes. Otherwise, possession is restored through the court.