The owner of any land may at any time apply to a Magistrate’s Court for an order authorizing him, or any person authorized by him in writing in that behalf, to enter upon any adjoining land for the purpose of erecting, repairing, adding to, or painting the whole or any part of any building, wall, fence, or other structure on the applicant’s land, and to do on the land so entered upon such things as may reasonably be considered necessary for any such purpose as aforesaid.

On any such application the Court may make such order as it thinks fit. Any such order, or any provision thereof, may be made upon and subject to such terms and conditions as the Court thinks fit.

Every application under this section shall be made by originating application in accordance with the rules of procedure for the time being in force under the Magistrates’ Courts Act, 1947. The Court, for the purposes of hearing and determining the application, shall have all the powers vested in it in its ordinary civil jurisdiction.

For the purposes of this section, the term ‘owner’, in relation to any land, means any person registered under the Land Transfer Act, 1915, as the proprietor of an estate in fee simple in the land or as lessee or mortgagee of the land, or any person who is for the time being entitled to receive the rent of the land, whether on his own account or as agent or trustee for or mortgagee of any other person, or who would be entitled so to receive the rent if the land were let, or any tenant of the land bound by any express or implied covenant to keep any building thereon in repair.”

Where in any action or other proceeding in the Supreme Court relating to land it appears to the Court that any building, whether erected by the defend ant or by any of his predecessors in title upon any land adjoining the plaintiff’s. land (that part being referred to in this section as the piece of land encroached upon and it is proved to the satisfaction of the Court by or on behalf of the defendant that the encroachment was not intentional and did not arise form gross negligence, or in any case where the building was not erected by the defendant, it is, in the opinion of, the Court, just, and equitable in the circumstances that relief should be granted to the defendant, the Court, instead of ordering the defendant to give up possession of the piece of land encroached upon, or to pay damages, or instead of granting an injunction, may in its discretion make an order—

Where the Court makes any order under this section, the Court may, in the order, declare any estate or interest so vested to be free from any mortgage or other encumbrance affecting the piece of land encroached upon, or vary, to such extent as it considers necessary in the circumstances, any mortgage, lease, or contract affecting or relating to that piece of land.

Any order under this section, or any provision of any such order, may be made upon and subject to such terms and conditions as the Court thinks fit, whether as to the payment by the defendant or any other person of any sum or sums of money, or the execution by the defendant or any other person of any mortgage, lease, easement, contract, or other instrument, or otherwise.

Every person having any estate or interest in the plaintiff’s land or in such adjoining land as aforesaid, or claiming to be a party to or to be entitled to any benefit under any mortgage, lease, or contract affecting or relating to any such land, shall be entitled to be heard in relation to any application for or proposal to make any order under this section. For the purposes of this subsection the Court may, if in its opinion notice of the application or proposal should be given to any such person as aforesaid, direct that such notice as it thinks fit shall be given to that person by the defendant.

Any Magistrate’s Court shall have jurisdiction to exercise the powers conferred upon the Supreme Court by this section in any case where the value of the land to which the action or proceeding relates, without the buildings thereon, does not exceed the amount to which the jurisdiction of the Magistrate’s Court is limited in civil cases:

“Provided that a defendant intending to invoke the powers given to a Magistrate’s Court by this subsection shall give notice of his intention to the other party before the hearing, and the other party shall thereupon be entitled as of right to have the action or proceeding transferred to the Supreme Court, or to appeal to the Supreme Court against any order purporting to be made by the Magistrate’s Court under this section.

Every order vesting any estate or interest in any person under this section shall, for the purposes of the Stamp Duties Act, 1923, be deemed to be a conveyance, and shall be liable to stamp duty accordingly.

Any order under this section may be registered as an instrument under the Land Transfer Act, 1915, or, as the case may require, the Deeds Registration Act, 1908.”