Legal personality

• The term Person is derived from the Latin word 'Persona’ which implies a
mask. In the ancient era, a mask was worn by all actors who used to
denote the part played by a man in his life till the end of the sixth century.
From the seventh century onwards, this word was interpreted in the sense
of a living being who is capable of having right and duties.
• Personality should be distinguished from humanity. Humanity
means only the natural human beings but personality has a
technical meaning and it includes inanimate objects also. Thus
personality is wider than humanity. Sometimes, humanity and
personality coincide and sometimes, they do not. In the same
way there are legal persons who are not human beings, such as
an idol or a corporation.
Nature of legal personality
• Legal personality is an artificial creation of law. Entities under the law
are capable of being parties to a legal relationship. A natural person is
a human being and legal persons are artificial persons, such as a
corporation. Law creates such corporation and gives certain legal
rights and duties of a human being.
Definition :
1.Salmond – “ A person is any being whom the law regards as
capable of rights and bound by legal duties.
1. Savigny defines the term person as the subject or bearer of a right.
2. According to Gray A person is an entity to which rights and duties
may be attributed.
3. According to Austin the term ‘person’ includes physical or natural
person including every being which can be deemed human.
Kinds of Person: Persons are of two kinds:

1.Natural and
2.Legal
• A natural person means human beings. Legal persons mean
beings and things which are treated as persons by law. Thus 'legal
person' includes those things which are treated in the same way as
human beings for the legal purposes.
• All human beings are not legal persons. For example, in Hindu
society, when a person becomes as ascetic (sanyasi), his proprietary
rights extinguish and his property goes to his heirs as if he were
dead. In ancient Hindu law, persons having certain physical
disabilities were considered as disqualified to inherit property.
Do they have legal personality
• Do they have rights and duties
• Can they withhold property
• Can it sue or be sued
• Can enter contracts
Legal status of Animals
• n modern times, no legal system recognizes animals as persons.
Therefore, they have no rights and liabilities. The human acts which
are considered by law as wrongs against animals are, really speaking,
not wrong against the animals, but are wrongs either against the
person who owns that animal or against the society. An animal
cannot own property.
• n India, cruelty against animals (as defined in various statutes) is an
offence but as observed earlier, this duty is not a duty towards
animals; it is a duty towards the society or the state. In our country, a
trust for the benefit of animals can be legally created (Jamanabai v.
Khimji, 14 Bom. And Lalla Pd. v. Brahmanand, AIR 1953 All. 499).
Legal status of dead men
• . It is the recognised principle that the personalities of a human being
commences on his birth and cease to exist at death. Therefore, dead
men are no longer persons in the eyes of the law.
• Salmond pointes out three things in respect of which anxieties of
living men extend beyond the period of their deaths, of which law will
take notice. They are dead-men’s body, his reputation and his estate.
Legal status of idol
• Idol is a juristic person and as such it can hold property. But it is
treated as a minor and pujari or somebody else act on its behalf as its
guardian.
• in Masjid Shahid Ganj V. Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandhak
Committee, 1938
• Privy council held that it suits cannot be brought by or against
mosques, for they are not ‘artificial’ person in the eye of law.
Conferring personality upon a building so as to deprive it of its
character as immovable personality.
Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee v.
Somnath Das (2000)
• The supreme court stating the historical background and sancitity of
Guru Sahib held it to be juristic person.
• The last living Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, expressed in no uncertain
terms that henceforth there would not be any living guru. The Guru
Granth sahib would be the vibrating Guru. It is with this faith that it is
worshipped like living guru.
Unborn child
• As per legal fiction, a child in its mother’s womb is
considered as already born. When he is born alive, he will
attain legal status. In usual terms, the law only gives
attention to living natural persons but in the case of
an infant ventre sa mere (a child in its mother’s womb),
the law makes an exception. A child in its mother’s womb
is capable of acquiring certain rights and inheriting
property, but it all depends on whether the child is born
alive or not. An unborn child is considered a person during
partition. Damages can also be claimed by such an unborn
child for the injury sustained while in its mother’s womb.
Corporate personality
• A corporation is an artificial person having legal personality. Like a
natural person, it can have rights and duties and can hold property.
Corporate personality is actually a creation of law. In order to be
recognized by law, a corporation must fulfill the following essentials.
• 1. a group or body of human beings must have associated for a
definite purpose.
• 2. there should be organs through which the corporation can exercise
its function
• 3. a will is attributed to a corporation by fiction of law.
Kinds of Corporations
• Corporation Aggragate
• Corporation Sole
Theories
• Fiction Theory
• Supported by Savigny, Salmond and Dicey. Only human beings can
properly be called ‘person. Non living beings are regarded as persons
by fiction of law for some limited purposes only. They do not have any
real personality.
• Concession Theory
• It is concerned with the Sovereignty of a State. It pre-supposes that the
corporation as a legal person has great importance because it is
recognized by the State or the law. According to it, a juristic person is
merely a concession or creation of the state.
• this theory gives wide discretion to the state which can be
misused by it. This theory has been misused by the state to
suppress the autonomous institutions.

• Group Personality Theory (realist theory)

• Supported by Johannes Althusius, Gierke and Maitland. This theory
believes that every collective group has a real mind, a real will and a
real power of action. So, a corporation has a real existence,
irrespective of the fact whether it is recognized by the State or not.
Juristic persons are real in the same sense in which human being are.
• Purpose Theory: supported by Brinz. Cooperations are treated as
persons only for some specific purposes. They don’t enjoy full fledged
personality like natural persons.
• Bracket Theory: supported by inhering. Only the individual members
of a corporation can be called persons and only they have rights and
duties. By granting corporate personality, a bracket is put around the
members so that they can be treated and protected as a unit.
Corporate personality is just a symbol which helps in protecting the
interests of a group.