Ownership (bundle of rights)

1.
2. Extinctive
3. Accessory
Joint tenancy

Possession (protected under law of torts, law of property)

Prima facie evidence of the ownership
Prescription: 20 yrs
Adverse possession: 12 yrs
Definition:

 By Savigny: Intention coupled with physical power to exclude others from the use
of material object
Intention: animus domini, animus possidendi
Physical control over goods: Corpus possentionis

 By Salmond: “the continuing exercise of a claim to the exclusive use of an object”

Corporal possession and incorporeal possession
Corporal possession
Corpus possetionis and animus dendi
Incorporeal possession:
Animus possidendi
Cl: bridges Vs hawkes 1851 (English case)
Held: customer had good title and not the shop owner
Cl: Armery Vs Dellamiri 1721
Held: the boy has possessory right as Finder of the goods
Elements of possession:
1. Corpus possetionis
Relation of possessor to other person

2. Animus possidendi
Will to possess
Intent to appropriate the thing
Conscious intention to exclude others from using
Claim of possessor may not be absolute
Only intention will not determine the right of possession

Possession may not be specific but be general

Kinds of possession:
1. Possession in fact and possession in law
2.

Modes of possession:
1. Giving/ delivering
2. Taking

Legal consequences of the possession:

Possessory remedies: under English law possession
Jus tertii – to set up a title of third person other than himself or the plaintiff
(Which is not allowed)
1. Possession is 9/10 points of law
S.110 of Indian Evidence Act
2. Law of Adverse possession for period of 12 years
3. res nullius: no man’s land/ no man’s possession
4. Wrongful possession is good title except the owner
5. Possessor may confer a good title to another even in the absence of possession
Nemo dat quad non habit: he who does not have a title cannot give. No one can pass a
better title that the possessor himself
6. Even goods can be handed over without passing possession
7. Difference between ownership and possession:
i. Definitions:
ii. Ownership is bundle of rights (dominion position of owner), possession does not
iii. Ownership is of legal character (ownership is question of law), Possession may
not be of good of character (may be legal or of bad character/ illegal)
iv. De jure owner and de facto possession
v. Possession is of a short duration
vi. When Conflict between ownership and possession, ownership is at higher value
but difficult to prove against the possessor

5 Characteristics of legal rights: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Title (titulus (roman), titre

(French)). Title is de facto antecedent –
Title is also called as investitive fact – those that have creation of rights
Investitive facts
Original title
Derivative title
Divestitive fact – either destroy or transfer
vii.