Word 'Gift' - Indian Laws - General

Meaning of word Gift In Black s Law Dictionary (Fourth Edition) defines Gift thus:- A voluntary transfer of personal property without consideration. A parting by owner with property without pecuniary consideration. A voluntary conveyance of land, or transfer of goods, from one person to another made gratuitously, and not upon any consideration of blood or money. A similar definition has been given in Webster s Third New International Dictionary (Unabridged) where the author defines Gift thus: Something that is voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation; a voluntary transfer of real or personal property without any consideration or without a valuable consideration- distinguished from sale. (Emphasis ours) Volume 18 of Words Phrases (Permanent Edition) defines Gift thus: A gift is a voluntary transfer of property without compensation or any consideration. A gift means a voluntary transfer of property from one person to another without consideration or compensation. (Emphasis ours) In Halsbury s Laws of England (Third Edition-Volume 18) while detailing the nature and kinds of gift, the following statement is made: A gift inter vivos (a) may be defined shortly as the transfer of any property from one person to another gratuitously. Gifts then, or grants, which are the eighth method of transferring personal property, are thus to be distinguished from each other, that gifts are always gratuitous, grants are upon some consideration or equivalent. Thus, according to Lord Halsbury s statement the essential distinction between a gift and a grant is that whereas a gift is absolutely gratuitous, grant is based on some consideration or equivalent. Similarly in Volume 38 of Corpus Juris Secundum, it has been clearly stated that a gift is a transfer without consideration and in this connection while defining the nature and character of a gift the author states as follows: A gift is commonly defined as a voluntary transfer of property by one to another, without any consideration or compensation therefor. Any piece of property which is voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation or consideration. A gift is a gratuity, and an act of generosity, and not only does not require a consideration but there can be none; if there is a consideration for the transaction it is not a gift. [SONIA BHATIA VERSUS STATE OF UP.- 1981 (3) TMI 250 - SUPREME COURT]