Supreme Courts issue rulings on property and possession laws

The Supreme Courts in Ghana and India have issued significant rulings clarifying principles of property ownership and possession.

In Ghana, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the common law doctrine of advancement in the case of Edward Fynn-Sackey v Irene Fynn-Sackey & Another. The court held that when a father acquires property in a child's name, the law presumes it is intended as a gift to that child. This decision overturned a High Court ruling regarding a property in Accra, confirming that the asset did not form part of the deceased father's intestate estate.

In India, the Supreme Court ruled that long or uninterrupted possession of immovable property does not automatically constitute adverse possession. The court emphasized that for possession to be legally adverse, there must be a clear and hostile assertion of ownership against the true owner. The ruling, involving a land dispute in Punjab, also clarified that while revenue records may help establish possession, they do not conclusively establish or extinguish legal title.