Dama Seshadri Naidu, J.

Introduction:

1. A person is in settled possession of an immovable property: a flat in an apartment. That person in possession claims he has been inducted as a prospective purchaser under an agreement; the landlady, on the contrary, claims he is inducted for a limited period—given permissive possession. Apprehending eviction, he sues for an injunction but gets no interim protection. Later, a mob of people, believed to belong to the landlady, storms the house. The police intervene.

2. The police intervention leads to one thing: the person loses his possession. The person claims he is locked out by none other than the police. The police claim they have pacified the parties and left the scene. The landlady claims the person in possession voluntarily vacated. Where does the truth lie?

3. The above controversy compels us to answer these questions: (1) Has the person in possession been forcefully and illegally dispossessed? Have the police abetted the illegal dispossession? Or, has the person voluntarily vacated the flat? If the person has been forcefully thrown out, then these further questions need to be answered: (1) Must the dispossessed person be put ba