Sales v. Barro

Summary

This Supreme Court case involved an ejectment complaint filed by property owners against an occupant of their land. The petitioners alleged the respondent constructed a shanty without consent and refused to vacate. Lower courts initially ruled for petitioners, but the Court of Appeals dismissed the complaint for lack of jurisdiction. The Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal, holding that the complaint was actually for forcible entry but was fatally defective because it failed to allege the petitioners' prior physical possession of the property, a mandatory jurisdictional requirement. The Court emphasized that possession in ejectment cases means physical possession, not merely legal ownership, and that jurisdiction cannot be conferred through estoppel.