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Showing contexts for: bailment in Syndicate Bank vs C.H.Muhammed on 6 April, 2010Matching Fragments
12. It is well settled that the contract of pawn or pledge contains five classes of bailment. Pawn has been described as a security where by contract a deposit of goods is made a security for a debt and the right to the property vests in the pawnee so far as is necessary to secure the debt.
13. In Halsbury's Laws of England, Fourth Edition at page 77 it was held as follows:
"128. Power of sale. The contract of pawn carries with it an implication that the security may be made available to satisfy the obligation. Under this implication a pawnee has a power of sale on default of payment if the time for payment has been fixed. If there is no stipulated time for payment, the pawnee may demand payment, and in default of payment may sell, on notice to the pawnor of his intention to do so. The pawnor retains his right to redeem at any moment up to sale, that is at any moment up to the time of the exercise by the pawnee of his power of sale by entering into a valid contract of sale."
Mr. Sinha, on behalf of the appellants, contended that there was no question in this case of the application of the provisions of S.176 of the Contract Act inasmuch as the position of the plaintiffs was not the position of pawnees. Section 148 of the Contract Act is relevant in this connection, and the provisions of that section are as follows:
"A bailment" is the delivery of goods by one person to another for some purpose, upon a contract that they shall, when the purpose is accomplished, be returned or otherwise disposed of according to the directions of the person delivering them. The person delivering the goods is called the 'bailor'. The person to whom they ae delivered is called the 'bailee'.
Explanation.- If a person already in possession of the goods of another contracts to hold them as a bailee, he thereby becomes the bailee, and the owner becomes the bailor, of such goods although they may not have been delivered by way of bailment".
Section 172 of the Contract Act says-
"The bailment of goods as security for payment of a debt or performance of a promise is called 'pledge'. The bailor is in this case called the 'pawnor'. The bailee is called the 'pawnee' . In the present case, the Tisi belonged to the plaintiffs. The defendants bought the Tisi from the plaintiffs. The defendants bought the Tisi from the plaintiffs, and the price of it was advanced by the plaintiffs, and the price of it was advanced by the plaintiffs. The defendants, in their turn, by agreement with the plaintiffs arranged that the goods would remain with the plaintiffs, who were to be paid interest on the money advanced as also the arhat charges for keeping the goods of the defendants in the plaintiffs' arhat."
"Section 172 of the Contract Act provides that the bailment of goods as security or payment of a debt or performance of a promise is called pledge. Bailor being the pawnor and pawnee being the bailee. What is bailment is defined by Section 48 which, inter alia, provides that bailment is the delivery of goods by one person to another for some purpose, upon a contract that they shall, when the purpose is accomplished, be returned or otherwise disposed of according to the directions of the person delivering them. The person delivering the goods is called the bailor and the person to whom the goods are delivered is called the bailee. Section 160 provides that the goods bailed are to be returned by the bailee on expiration of time or accomplishment of purpose. Reading Section 172 with Sections 148 and 160 of Contract Act, it would appear that when goods are bailed for securing payment of debt or the performance of a promise the bailor would get a right for the return of the said goods when the purpose is accomplished, namely, the debt is returned or the promise is performed. At the same time Section 176 provides for pawnee's right when pawnor makes default. This Section reads as follows: