State vs . Halima on 24 November, 2018
In Sant vs The Union Of India
AIR 1962 HP 1, the Himachal Pradesh High Court observed that, " the concept
of possession embraces both actual and constructive possession. Possession may
exist in law but not in fact and such possession is termed as constructive. The
Roman lawyers distinguished possession in fact as possessio naturalis and
possession in law as possessio civilis. It is trite law that every owner of property
is presumed to be in possession of it unless the contrary is proved. The word
'possession' as used in the aforesaid section is, therefore, wide enough to include
not only actual and physical but also constructive possession. The legislature
must be deemed to have been aware of the legal connotation of the word
'possession' when it used that word in Section 441, I. P. C. If the intention of the
Legislature had been that actual and physical possession should be an ingredient
of criminal trespass nothing would have been easier for it than to have qualified
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the word possession with the words 'actual and physical'...... annoyance will be
caused to the owner of vacant property if the same is trespassed upon with a view
to oust him and he is not in collusion with the trespasser. He may have to take
steps to recover possession and be involved in litigation and it cannot he gainsaid
that to be involved in litigation is no pleasure".