The document discusses legal concepts surrounding property, ownership, and possession, defining these terms and their implications in jurisprudence. It outlines different types of property (corporeal and incorporeal) and explains possession as a fundamental relationship between individuals and material objects. Additionally, it distinguishes between de facto and de jure possession, highlights the elements necessary for valid possession, and details the rights associated with ownership.

1. Legal Concepts in
Jurisprudence
regarding
Property,
Ownership &
Possession

2. Legal Concepts
Before entering into discussions on property, possession & ownership
as legal concepts, it is necessary to understand the meaning of the
term ‘legal concept’ and its import. The term ‘concept’ has many
meanings, but broadly stated “it is an abstraction from particular things
or events etc. forming a general notion.” Paton defines concepts as
those categorisations which are rigidly determined as a matter of law.

3. Concept of property
The term property means things which are owned. In other words, it means those
things on which right of ownership can be expanded. It includes both living and
non living things. In broader sense, it means the things without which a person
cannot live and it includes rights to live, personal liberty and all those rights
which the person an exercise against others.
The term Property is defined by many scholars but Salmond defines it more
specifically then all the others. He defined it as the law of property is the law of
proprietary rights ‘right in rem’, the law of proprietary rights ‘in personam’ is
distinguished from it as the law of obligations. According to this usage, a freehold
or leasehold estate in land, or patent or copyright is included in property but debt
or shares or benefit arising out of a contract is not property.

4. According to Salmond, the term property has variety
of sense.
1) Legal rights: these rights are owned by the way
of way. A person can exercise them on others and it
includes personal and proprietary rights.
2) Proprietary rights: it means land, chattels, debts
are included in property but not right to life and
reputation are included.
3) Corporeal rights: it says that only land chattels
which can be seen are covered under corporeal
rights but not debts and shares.

5. Types of property
 CORPOREAL
It includes material property which can be touched e.g. land, money, chattels and it
further divided into two parts and these are:
1) Movable and immovable property
Immovable property is permanently attached to the earth and cannot be moved
from one place to another for example land, house, etc. But movable property can
be moved from one place to another with the help of a person and that includes
chattels, ornaments.
2) Real and personal property
There is no basic difference between the real and personal property but all those
rights which are recognised by law are real rights whereas personal rights includes
proprietary rights over the property whether right in rem or right in personam.

6. INCORPOREAL
Basically, incorporeal rights are those proprietary rights which are covered in right in rem
and are not tangible in nature. It can further divide into two parts.
1) Jura in re aliena:
Jura in re aliena is also known as encumbrances. It is basically property of one person
that is used by other person.
It includes: Lease; Servitude; Securities; Trusts
2) Jura in re propria:
It is the right over the immaterial things. The person attains this right due to his skill and
labour.
It is categorized into following:
1) Patent
2) Copyright
3) Commercial Goodwill

7. Possession of property
As said by Salmond, possession is the most basic relation between a man and a
thing. Since the human life and human society is not possible without material
things, it makes the possession of these material things very necessary. With the
process of civilization, with the people struggling for existence started taking the
possession of certain objects and considered them their own. Possession being a
legal as well as factual concept it becomes impossible to define covering all the
legal scenarios and situations in which it may apply.
Some of the jurists have defined possession in some ways,
According to Salmond, “possession is the continuing exercise of a claim to the
exclusive use of an object.”
Savigny defines Possession as, “intention coupled with physical power to exclude
others from the use of a material object.”
According to Ihering, “whenever a person looked like an owner in relation to a
thing, he had possession of it unless possession was denied to him by rules of law
based on practical convenience.”

8. Speaking the legal sense, possession is not just having a control over a thing but rather
it should be coupled with an intention of exercising that particular power, excluding
others from it. A number of legal consequences get attached with possession, its
acquisition and loss and hence it is a difficult concept in legal perspective considering
its subjectivity. It is evident that we work under the assumption that if a thing is in the
possession of someone, then he is the owner and any other person claiming the thing
needs to prove better possessory rights.
This principle has even been invalidated under Indian Evidence Act, 1872 under section
10 as follows –
Burden of proof as to ownership- when the question is whether any person is the
owner of anything of which he is shown to be in possession, the burden of proving that
he is not the owner is on the persons who affirms that he is not the owner.
Even in the case of B. Gangadhar v. B.R. Rajalingam, while explaining the relation
between possession and ownership, the Supreme Court of India stated that possession is
the external form in which claims normally manifest themselves. It is in fact, what
ownership is in right enforceable at law to or over the thing.

9. Types and elements of possession
Types – Possession in fact or the de facto possession of a thing refers to the physical possession over
a thing which needs not be continuous. Mere intention to exercise the physical control and to exclude
others from it is enough to constitute possession in fact. There needs to be a physical contact. While if
we talk about possession in law or the de jure possession of a thing refers to the possession of the thing
which is recognized by the law. Generally, a person who is in de facto possession of a thing also has a
de jure possession over it. But still it has certain exceptions. Like for example in case your servant has a
physically has something with him but still the real possessor remains the master. And hence it becomes
a case of possession in fact but not possession in law and the vice versa case also exists that is called
constructive possession. So we can say they mostly exist together but still not always. Even the Roman
law recognizes the difference between these two.
Elements – Possession constitutes of two elements, one being corpus of the possession and the
other being animus of the possession. Corpus of the possession refers to the object or the body which is
in the possession of the possessor and animus refers to the intention to hold or retain the possession.
Both of them are required to constitute a valid possession as neither one of them alone is sufficient.
Corpus possession is cannot exist without animus possidendi.

10. At the end it can be concluded by saying that though
possession of property is the most fundamental relation
between a thing and a man but yet when it comes to
simplifying or defining it is one of the most difficult concept.
Law protects possessor of a thing against every person
other than someone who has a better title or possessory
right and it is evident through various remedies that our law
gives like the doctrine of jes tertii and some statutory
remedies are also there.

11. Ownership
Ownership refers to the relation that a person has with an object that
he owns. It is an aggregate of all the rights that he has with regards to
the said object. These rights are in rem, that is, they can be enforced
against the whole world and not just any specific person. The concept
of ownership flows from that of possession. In the primitive societies,
there was no idea of ownership. The only concept that they identified
with was that of possession. It was only after they started settling down
by building homes and cultivating land that they developed the idea of
ownership.

12. Subject Matter of Ownership
One of the subject matters of ownership is material objects.
Salmond is of the view that the real subject matter of
rights. This particular view of Salmond is supported by the
law system. However, it has also received some amount of
It has been argued that law generally recognizes ownership
and chattels and not of any right. A person is said to have
rights and not own rights.
The subject-matter of ownership is essentially determined
legal system of a state. There are certain objects which, by
nature, are incapable of being owned such as jungles, air,
However, the legal system of a country may recognize the

13. Essentials of Ownership
Upon analysing the various definitions of ownership, the following essentials of ownership can be derived:
1.Indefinite point of user- The owner of a property has the liberty to use it. Others have the duty to not to use
it or to not to interfere with the owner’s right to use it.
2.Unrestricted point of disposition- The owner has the right to dispose of the property at his own will. A
person needs to have the ownership of a thing in order to transfer that ownership to someone else. Mere
possession does not give the power to dispose of the ownership.
3.Right to possess- The owner has the right to possess the thing which he owns.
4.Right to exhaust- If the nature of the thing which is owned is such that it can be exhausted then the owner
has the right to exhaust it at his own will.
5.Residuary character- The owner may part with several rights with regards to the thing he owns. This does
not take away the ownership from him.
6.Right to destroy or alienate- An owner has the right to destroy or alienate the thing that he owns.

14. Modes of Acquisition
Ownership may be acquired in two ways.
Firstly, ownership may be acquired over a thing which has no
owner. Such things are known as res nullius and the ownership
may be acquired by possession.
Secondly, there may be things which are already owned by
someone else. The ownership in such cases can be acquired
using the derivative method, that is, by way of purchase, gift,
inheritance, etc. The acquisition of ownership, unlike possession,
has to be done strictly by lawful means.

15. CONCLUSION
We may in conclusion say that:
1. Ownership is a right which
comprise of powers, claims,
privileges etc.
2. Ownership is in respect of a
thing may be corporeal or
incorporeal
3. The right relating to or