“An easement is a right which the owner or occupier of certain land possesses, as such, for the beneficial enjoyment of that land, to do and continue to do something, or to prevent and continue to prevent something being done, in or upon, or in respect of, certain other land not his own.”
An easement is a privilege, without profit, which the owner of one tenement has a right to enjoy in respect of that tenement in or over the tenement of another person, by reason whereof the latter is obliged to suffer or refrain from doing something on his own tenement for the advantage of the former. The following six characteristics are essential of an easement : —
(1) There must be a dominant and servient tenement:
(2) An easement must accommodate the dominant tenement;
(3) The right of easement must be possessed for the beneficial enjoyment of the dominant tenement;
(4) Dominant and servient owners must he different persons:
(5) The right should entitle the dominant owner to do and continue to do something, or to prevent and continue to prevent something being done, in or upon, or in respect of, the servient tenement; and
(6) The something must be of a certain or well defined character and be capable of forming the subject matter of a grant.
As existence of both a dominant tenement and servient tenement is essential to the creation and existence of an easement it is difficult to conceive of a position where a person can claim easement by prescription when he owns both the tenements. It may be permissible in the plaint to advance an inconsistent plea of ownership and easement alternatively, but it is necessary that the plaintiff should press one of them only either at the stage of evidence or a subsequent stage. When the dominant and servient tenement are in the ownership and possession of the same person acts done by him on the servient tenement are clearly referable to his possession of that tenement and hence there cannot be any easement by prescription.
