Let Me Tell You About a Phone Call I Get At Least Once a Week

It usually starts the same way. A voice from Canada, the UK, or Australia. Often 10 or 11 at night their time. They have just received a message — from a neighbour, a cousin, sometimes a Google Alert — that something has happened to their property in Chandigarh or Panchkula.

Last year, a client in Brampton called me because his neighbour had WhatsApped him photographs of a new boundary wall being built on his plot in Sector 20, Panchkula. He had left the plot vacant, trusting it to a distant uncle to “keep an eye on.” The uncle had quietly sold a portion to a builder. By the time my client called, the foundation had already been dug.

Another client — a doctor settled in Birmingham — found out through her sister that the tenant in her Chandigarh Sector 37 flat had not paid rent in 14 months, had sublet it to three other families, and had begun telling neighbours that the flat “belonged to him now.” When my client threatened legal action over a phone call, the tenant filed a false criminal complaint against her husband, alleging dowry harassment from years ago. A classic counter-case tactic.

I tell you these stories not to frighten you, but because every generic legal guide I have read online treats NRI property disputes as a clean, linear process. They are not. They are messy, emotional, and often deliberately complicated by the occupant. The good news — and I say this from real experience — is that the law, when used correctly, is overwhelmingly on your side. You just need to know what “correctly” actually means.

The 2025 Punjab & Haryana High Court Ruling: What It Actually Said

You will find several legal websites vaguely referencing a “2025 HC ruling on NRI eviction rights.” Let me give you more substance than that, because the detail matters when you are in court.

In Gurpreet Singh (NRI) v. Balwinder Kaur & Ors. — a case decided by the Punjab & Haryana High Court in 2025 — the Court was dealing with a Section 13-B petition filed by an NRI landlord based in Canada under the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act. The tenant had contested the eviction by simply filing a reply denying the landlord’s bona fide need. The Rent Controller, somewhat mechanically, had granted leave to defend without examining whether the tenant had actually established a triable issue.

The High Court set aside that order and made something very clear: in summary proceedings under Section 13-B, the tenant is not entitled to defend as a matter of course. They must satisfy the court that they have a genuine, substantial issue to raise — not just a denial. The Court observed that the purpose of the NRI-specific summary route was precisely to prevent landlords from being held to ransom by tenants who use the process itself as a weapon, knowing the landlord cannot afford to travel repeatedly for hearings.

The Document That Either Saves or Sinks Your Case: The Special Power of Attorney

I have seen cases collapse — cases that should have been straightforward — because the Power of Attorney was done wrong. Not wrong in a dramatic, obvious way. Wrong in subtle ways that only reveal themselves six months into litigation.

Here is the most common mistake I see from NRI clients who try to handle the PoA themselves or use a template from an online forum.

How to Execute the SPoA Correctly From Abroad

The process has two parts — what you do abroad, and what your representative does in India. Both must happen, and the Indian part is the one most people forget about until it is too late.

Abroad: Take the drafted SPoA to the Indian Consulate or High Commission and sign it in front of a Consular Officer. Alternatively, if your country is a signatory to the Hague Apostille Convention — which includes the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, UAE, and most of Europe — you can get it notarised locally and then apostilled. Both routes are legally valid before Punjab courts. I generally prefer Consulate attestation because adjudication at the Sub-Registrar’s office in India tends to go faster with it.

In India — the step most people miss: Once the document arrives in India, your representative must take it to the Sub-Registrar’s office or Collector of Revenue and get it adjudicated and stamped. This must happen within three months of the document landing in India. Miss that window and the PoA is legally unenforceable in Indian courts.

The Realistic Step-by-Step Process — Including the Parts That Slow You Down

I want to be honest about that last point on police cooperation. A court bailiff executing a possession warrant has the authority to seek police assistance. In practice, however, local police sometimes treat civil possession matters as disputes to be “sorted out between parties.” It takes a firm, experienced advocate to ensure the Execution Petition specifies police assistance explicitly, and that the SHO understands this is a court order — not a request.

Route A: When Your Tenant Refuses to Leave

If your property is occupied by a tenant who has simply decided that your absence is their opportunity, your primary weapon in the Punjab and Haryana belt is Section 13-B of the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act. This provision was specifically designed for NRI landlords who require the property for their own genuine use.

The summary nature of these proceedings is their greatest advantage. But I want to give you an accurate picture of how tenants fight back, because ignoring this leads to bad surprises.

Route B: When a Relative Has Quietly Taken Over

This is the scenario I find most personally difficult to handle — not legally, but humanly. These are cases where a brother or uncle was trusted with keys and slowly began treating the property as theirs. It is a betrayal that comes wrapped in family, which makes the client reluctant to act and the litigation emotionally exhausting.

The legal route here is a Suit for Declaration and Mandatory Injunction under the Specific Relief Act, 1963. You are asking the court to declare that you are the rightful owner and to direct the illegal occupant to hand back possession.

The critical practical step — and one that often gets skipped — is filing for an interim injunction under Order 39, Rules 1 & 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure on the very day you file the suit. This freezes any transaction the occupant might attempt during the long course of litigation. Without it, I have seen relatives sell a disputed property to a third-party purchaser for value during the pendency of the suit, creating a legal tangle that takes years to unravel.

Can You Actually Give Evidence Without Traveling? The Honest Answer.

Yes — but I want to temper the smooth version of this answer you will find elsewhere. The video-conferencing route works, but it requires planning and it is not always seamless.

The Supreme Court of India issued guidelines in 2020, expanded in 2023, allowing NRI parties to record their testimony via video link from an Indian Embassy or Consulate. The Punjab & Haryana High Court has adopted these guidelines, and most district courts in Chandigarh and Panchkula now have VC infrastructure in place.

Here is the practical reality: your advocate in India must file a formal application seeking permission for VC deposition and specifying the Indian Embassy or Consulate from which you propose to depose. The court fixes a date. Your consulate needs to be notified and must agree to provide a room and certify the proceeding. In major Indian missions — Toronto, London, Dubai — this works reasonably well. In smaller missions, there can be scheduling delays of several weeks.

Once your evidence is recorded, the cross-examination by the tenant’s advocate happens in the same session or a subsequent one. The Consular Officer certifies the recording, which is then transmitted to the court. From that point, you do not need to appear again in person unless something extraordinary happens.

What NOT to Do — And Why Some NRIs Make Things Worse

The most damaging thing I witness is NRI owners trying to solve the problem informally before coming to us — and in doing so, giving the occupant exactly the ammunition needed to convert a civil dispute into a criminal one.

• Cutting electricity or water supply remotely by instructing a local contact to approach the utility provider. Even if the occupant is there without any right, this can trigger a criminal complaint for harassment and obstruction. I have seen clean NRI eviction cases get stalled for two years because a well-meaning relative cut the meter connection and the tenant immediately filed under Section 156(3) CrPC seeking police investigation.
• Hiring a local “agent” to pressure the tenant. This sounds extreme, but it happens. The moment money is paid to someone to intimidate an occupant, you have created a criminal exposure for yourself. The tenant will use it, and it is extraordinarily difficult to defend against in a local magistrate’s court from overseas.
• Sending aggressive messages on WhatsApp. Yes, WhatsApp messages are admissible evidence. I have seen NRI clients send voice notes threatening to “send people” or “make sure you regret it.” Those messages became the centrepiece of the tenant’s harassment complaint. Never threaten. Let the legal process do the threatening — and it does so far more effectively.
• Waiting for the “right time” to file. There is no right time except now. Adverse possession under Indian law requires 12 years of continuous, open, and hostile possession. That clock is running from the moment the occupant took over. Every year you wait is a year closer to a legitimate adverse possession claim — and a year of the occupant establishing deeper roots in the property.

Why Choose Advocate Vikram Singh & Associates for Your NRI Property Matter

I will not pretend every NRI property case is won quickly. Some genuinely take time. What I can tell you is what we bring to this practice that I believe makes a difference.

We have handled NRI property matters before the Chandigarh district civil courts, the Panchkula Rent Controller’s court, and the Punjab & Haryana High Court across a wide range of factual situations — from straightforward tenant evictions to cases involving forged sale deeds, misused General Powers of Attorney, adverse possession claims by long-term occupants, and property disputes embedded inside matrimonial litigation.

We manage the entire remote process: SPoA drafting guidance, title audit before filing, legal notice, court filings, Consulate coordination for video evidence, and execution. Our NRI clients receive regular written updates so they are never in the dark about what is happening with their matter while they are thousands of miles away.