3. (A) Trespass to goods
• Trespass to goods means an intentional or
negligent interference with chattel (personal
possession) in possession of the plaintiff
provided that the interference is direct.
• Thus trespass to the goods means
interference with the possession of goods
without lawful justification.
4. Movable property
The corporeal and tangible property
• Cattle, cloth, furniture, coin, cheques or
jewelry
• Air, Gas and Electricity also considered to be
movable property.
5. Types of Trespass
• Talking of chattel out of possession of another
• Moving it from one place to another place
• Bringing one person in to contact with the
another’s thing
• Directing missiles on another’s property
All been held to be trespass.
6. Essentials of Trespass
1. Interference with property
2. Interference must be direct
3. Interference must be without lawful
justification.
7. Interference with property
• Plaintiff must be in possession of chattel at the
time of the interference.
• Possession connotes both the power (factum)
of exercising physical control.
e.g. Customer at restaurant.
• Intention(animus) to exercise such control.
e.g. of butterfly flying in A’s garden, flies to highway.
8. Interference must be direct
• In trespass to the goods the interference to
the possession of land must be direct and by
means of some tangible object.
• It is trespass to goods to cut and takes away
trees, to beat a dog, to shoot racing pigeon.
Interference must be without lawful
justification.
Trespass to goods is actionable per se.
9. Trespass ab initio
• An act which is not trespass to goods because
it is as done under the authority of some law,
will become a “trespass ab initio” if that
authority subsequently abused by committing
wrongful act.
• E.g. policeman with warrant seized un
relevant documents.
10. Remedies For Trespass
Defendant can defence on following grounds-
I. Lawful authority
II. Protection of property
III. Use of absolute right
IV. Compliance of lawful order
V. plaintiff's wrongful act or negligence
VI. Re taking of property
11. B) Conversion
According to salmond-
• A conversion is an act of willful interference,
without lawful justification, with any chattel in
a manner inconsistent with the right of
another, whereby that other is deprived of the
use and possession of it.
• Thus the tort of conversion consist of
deprivation of the plaintiff’s use and
possession of his chattel by the defendant.
12. Essentials of Conversion:
a) Dealing with the chattel in a manner
inconsistent with the right of the person
entitled to it.
b) An intension in so doing to deny that
person’s right or to assert a right which is in
fact, inconsistent with such right.
c) Wrongful intension for wrongful and willful
interference.
13. Modes of Conversion
1. Conversion by taking goods
2. Conversion by delivery to a third person
3. Conversion by denial of the title –in form of
transfer of property or sale in market
4. Conversion by detention
5. Conversion by destruction-Un authorized user
6. Conversion between co-owners
14. Defences
a) Authority of Plaintiff
b) Authority of Law
-Execution of Legal Process-possession of judgment-
debtor
-Distress-landlord has right to take chattel of his tenant
for arrears of rent.
c) Estoppel-if plaintiff by his own conduct made
the defendant commit the tort of conversion, he
will be stopped from getting any relief against
the defendant.
15. Remedies
a) An action for damages
b) An action for specific restitution- where
compensation in money would not afford the
claimant adequate relief from the loss of the
thing claimed.
c) An action for money not received
16. • Reversion: is future right in a property
• Injuries to the reversion
• Distinction between Trespass and Conversion-
In case of trespass it need to prove only taking
away, but in case of conversion it must get
prove that taking with adverse exercise of
dominion.
17. Detenue
• Detaining someone’s goods without lawful
justification.
• Detenue is seeking return of goods and not
merely the remedy for that.
• In conversion the plaintiff can get remedy in
form of compensation or return of good, but
specifically in Detenue only specific relief is
required.
18. In India,
• If a bailee unlawful of or negligently loses or
parts with possession he get rid of his
contractual liability to restore the property of
the bailor as termination of bailment and if he
fails to do, may ne sued in Detenue.
• In England detenue is abolished.
