Physical and Legal Possession - Indian Laws - General

Possession As per Black s Law Dictionary, Tenth Edition 1. The fact of having or holding property in one s power; the exercise of dominion over property. 2. The right under which one may exercise control over something to the exclusion of all others; the continuing exercise of a claim to the exclusive use of a material object. M. SIDDIQ (D) THR. LRS. VERSUS MAHANT SURESH DAS AND ORS. - 2019 (11) TMI 1396 - SUPREME COURT Meaning of `Physical and Legal Possession In Halsbury s Laws of England (Fourth Edition, page 617 - para 1111), `physical and legal possession is distinguished as under: Possession is a word of ambiguous meaning, and its legal senses do not coincide with the popular sense. In English law it may be treated not merely as a physical condition protected by ownership, but as a right in itself. The word possession may mean effective, physical or manual control, or occupation, evidenced by some outward act, sometimes called de facto possession or detention as distinct from a legal right to possession.... Possession may mean legal possession: that possession which is recognized and protected as such by law. The elements normally characteristic of legal possession are an intention of possessing together with that amount of occupation or control of the entire subject matter of which it is practically capable and which is sufficient for practical purposes to exclude strangers from interfering. Thus, legal possession is ordinarily associated with de facto possession; but legal possession may exist without de facto possession, and de facto possession is not always regarded as possession in law. A person who, although having no de facto possession, is deemed to have possession in law is sometimes said to have constructive possession. Pollock and Wright in their classic work, `An Essay on Possession in the Common Law (1888 Edition, page 27) explained the nature of possession, inter alia, as follows: Right to possess or to have legal possession. This includes the right to physical possession. It can exist apart from both physical and legal possession; it is, for example, that which remains to a rightful possessor immediately after he has been wrongfully dispossessed. It is a normal incident of ownership or property, and the name of `property is often given to it.... Right to possess, when separated from possession, is often called `constructive possession. The correct use of the term would seem to be coextensive with and limited to those cases where a person entitled to possess is (or was) allowed the same remedies as if he had really been in possession.... SADASHIV SHYAMA SAWANT [D] THROUGH L. RS. AND ORS. VERSUS ANITA ANANT SAWANT- 2010 (2) TMI 1295 - SUPREME COURT