Under Section 47 of the Indian Easements Act, 1882, when

Solution

Section 47 of the Indian Easements Act, 1882 provides that an easement is extinguished when the dominant heritage is permanently altered in such a manner that the easement can no longer be used without substantially increasing the burden on the servient heritage beyond what was originally contemplated. The rationale is that an easement was granted for the benefit of the dominant heritage in its original condition if the dominant heritage is fundamentally transformed (for example, a small residential plot converted into a large commercial complex requiring far greater use of a right of way), the servient owner cannot be compelled to bear the additional burden. Section 37 lists several other modes of extinction of easements, including: (i) merger when the dominant and servient heritage come under the ownership of the same person (Section 41); (ii) release when the dominant owner releases the easement (Section 42); (iii) non-enjoyment for a continuous period of 20 years (Section 47); and (iv) dissolution of the right of the grantor to transfer the easement (Section 46). It is important to note that a temporary suspension of use does not extinguish an easement only a continuous 20-year non-enjoyment amounts to abandonment.