Torts relating to movable property

Legal provision

• Specific Relief Act, 1963, section 7: a person entitled to the possession of specific movable property may recover it by a suit.
• Section 8: a person in possession or control of a specific article, who is not its owner, can be made to deliver it to the person entitled to its immediate possession. This applies when the article is held as agent or trustee, when compensation in money would not be adequate, when it is difficult to find the actual damage, or when possession has been wrongfully transferred.
• Indian Contract Act, 1872, sections 148 to 181: bailment. A bailee has possession and can sue strangers.
• Limitation Act, 1963: a suit for compensation for wrongfully taking or detaining movable property must be filed within three years.
• Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023: theft, criminal misappropriation and mischief are also offences. The civil claim is separate.

Meaning and definition

Movable property means goods and chattels, which are things that can be moved. Torts relating to it protect two interests: possession of the goods and the owner's right to them. The law gives three remedies for three degrees of interference.

Detailed explanation

Step 1: Trespass to goods

• Trespass to goods is a direct interference with goods in the possession of another, without lawful justification.
• It includes taking, moving, damaging or even touching the goods without permission.
• It is actionable per se in most cases. The claimant need not prove damage.
• The claimant must have possession at the time. A bailee (a person who holds goods for another) can sue a stranger.
• The interference must be intentional or negligent. It must be direct. Damage caused indirectly is dealt with under negligence.

Step 2: Conversion

• Conversion is dealing with goods in a manner that is seriously inconsistent with the rights of the person entitled to them.
• It can be committed by wrongfully taking goods, by wrongfully detaining them after a demand, by wrongfully selling or disposing of them, or by destroying or changing them so that their identity is lost.
• Innocence is no defence. An auctioneer who sells stolen goods without knowing that they were stolen is liable.
• In Hollins v. Fowler (1875), a broker who bought cotton for a client and delivered it, without knowing that the seller had got it by fraud, was liable in conversion.
• In Fouldes v. Willoughby (1841), a ferryman who put the claimant's horses off the ferry did not commit conversion. A mere removal is not a denial of the owner's right.
• The usual damages are the value of the goods at the time of conversion.

Step 3: Detinue

• Detinue is the wrongful detention of another's goods after a proper demand for their return.
• The essentials: the defendant holds the claimant's goods, the claimant makes a demand, and the defendant refuses or fails to return the goods within a reasonable time.
• The special feature is the remedy. The claimant can seek the return of the goods themselves, not only their value. This matters for unique goods, such as a family heirloom.
• If the defendant has lost or destroyed the goods, the remedy turns into damages for their value.
• In English law, detinue has been abolished and absorbed into conversion. Indian courts still use the name, and sections 7 and 8 of the Specific Relief Act give the remedy.

Step 4: Who can sue: possession

• In all three torts, possession is enough. The owner need not sue.
• In Armory v. Delamirie, a chimney sweep's boy found a jewel and took it to a goldsmith for valuation. The apprentice took out the stones and returned only the empty socket. The court held that a finder has a title good against everyone except the true owner, and the boy could sue.
• Because the goldsmith refused to produce the jewel, the court told the jury to assume that it was of the finest quality that would fit the socket.
• A bailee, an agent or a person with a lien can sue.

Step 5: Defences

• Lawful authority, such as a seizure under a warrant or a court order.
• Consent of the person entitled.
• Necessity, to save the goods or other property.
• Self-defence and defence of property.
• Better title in the defendant, or in a third party for whom the defendant acts.
• Lien, for a refusal to return goods until the debt is paid.
• Inevitable accident in trespass.

Step 6: Remedies

• Damages. For trespass to goods, the harm done. For conversion, the value at the time of conversion. For detinue, the value and loss of use.
• Recovery of the goods under sections 7 and 8 of the Specific Relief Act.
• Injunction against further interference.
• Self-help by recaption. The owner may take back the goods peacefully, using no more force than needed.

Don't confuse: conversion and detinue

Common mistakes

• Saying that only the owner can sue. Possession is enough.
• Saying that innocence is a defence to conversion. It is not.
• Mixing conversion with trespass to goods. Conversion needs a serious denial of title.
• Forgetting that detinue needs a demand and a refusal.
• Forgetting that a finder has a title good against everyone but the true owner.

Apply it

Leading case laws

• Armory v. Delamirie (1722)

  Facts. A chimney sweep's boy found a jewel. A goldsmith's apprentice removed the stones for weighing and returned only the empty socket.

  Principle. A finder has a title good against all except the true owner. Damages were assessed on the presumption of the finest quality.

  Significance. Finder's title; possession protects.

• Hollins v. Fowler (1875)

  Facts. A broker bought cotton for a client from a man who had got it by fraud, without knowing it, and delivered it.

  Principle. The broker was liable in conversion, though innocent.

  Significance. Innocence is no defence.

• Fouldes v. Willoughby (1841)

  Facts. A ferryman put the claimant's horses off his ferry and left them on shore.

  Principle. A mere removal was not conversion.

  Significance. Conversion needs a denial of the owner's right.

How to write this answer in the exam

Key points to remember

• Trespass to goods is direct interference. Conversion is a serious denial of title. Detinue is refusal to return on demand.
• Possession is enough to sue.
• Innocence is no defence to conversion.
• Detinue allows an order for return of the goods themselves.
• Specific Relief Act sections 7 and 8 give recovery of movable property.

Quick self-test

Related topics

• Trespass to land
• Assault
• Defamation