T. Kalaiselvan, Advocate (Advocate) 29 May 2021
Sankaranarayanan (Advocate) 30 May 2021
academic query
ashok kumar singh (Advocate) 30 May 2021
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".
Section 148 in The Indian Contract Act, 1872
148. ‘Bailment’, ‘bailor’ and ‘bailee’ defined.—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 are delivered is called the ‘bailee’. —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 are delivered is called the ‘bailee’." Explanation.—If a person is already in possession of the goods of other 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.
Contracts of Bailment are a special class of contract. These are dealt within Chap. IX from S.148 to 181 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872. Bailment implies a sort of one person temporarily goes into the possession of another. The circumstance in which this happens are numerous. Delivering a cycle, watch or any other article for repair, delivering gold to a goldsmith for making ornaments, delivering garments to a drycleaner, delivering goods for carriage, etc. are all familiar situations which create the relationship of ‘Bailment’.
2) Definition:-
a) Bailment:-
Section 148 defines ‘Bailment’ as “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 off according to the directions of the person delivering them”.
b) Bailor:- The person delivering the goods is called ‘Bailor’.
c) Bailee:- The person to whom they (goods) are delivered is ‘Bailee’.
3) Duties of Bailor:-
According to Section 150, which deals with the duties of Bailor. Bailor are of two kinds viz;
1) Gratuitous Bailor
2) Bailor for reward
1) Gratuitous Bailor:-
A person, who lends his articles or goods without any charge, is called a “Gratuitous Bailor”. His duty is naturally much less than that of a Bailor for hire or consideration.
* Duty of Gratuitous Bailor:-
a) To disclose Known faults:- It is the first and foremost duty of the Bailor to disclose the known faults about the goods bailed to the Bailee. If he does not make such disclosure, he is responsible for any damage caused to the Bailee directly from such faults.
i. E.g. ‘A’ lends a horse, which he knows to be vicious, to ‘B’. He does not disclose that the horse is vicious. The horse runs away and ‘B’ is thrown and injured. ‘A’ is responsible to ‘B’ for damage sustained.
ii. ‘A’ hires a carriage of ‘B’. The carriage is unsafe though ‘B’ is not aware of it, and is injured. ‘B’ is responsible to ‘A’ for the injury. In Gratuitous Bailment, however, the Bailor is responsible only for those faults which are known to him and which are not disclosed.
b) To indemnify bailee for loss in case of premature termination of Gratuitous Bailment:-
A Gratuitous Bailment can be terminated by the bailor at any time even though the bailment was for a specified time or purpose. But in such a case, the loss accuring to the bailee from such premature termination should not exceed the benefit he has derived out of the bailment. If the loss exceeds the benefit, the bailor shall have to indemnify the bailee. For example, ‘A’ lends an old discarded bicycle to ‘B’ gratuitously for three months, ‘B’ incurs Rs. 120/- on its repairs. If ‘A’ asks for the return of bicycle after one month, he will have to compensate ‘B’ for expenses incurred by ‘B’ in excess of the benefit derived by him.
2) Bailor for reward:-
The duty of a bailor for consideration is much greater. He is making profit from his profession and, therefore, it is his duty to see that the goods which he delivers are reasonably safe for the purpose of the bailment. It is no defence for him to say that he was not aware of the defect. Section 150 clearly says that “if the goods are bailed for hire, the bailor is responsible for such damage, whether he was or was not aware of such faults in the goods bailed.” He has to examine the goods and remove such defects as reasonable examination would have disclosed.
* Duty of Bailor for reward:-
c) To bear extraordinary expenses of Bailment:-
The Bailee is bound to bear ordinary and reasonable expenses of bailment but for any extraordinary expenses the bailor is responsible. E.g., ‘A’ lends his horse to ‘B’, a friend, for two days. The feeding charges are to be paid by ‘B’. But if the horse meets with an accident ‘A’ will have to repay ‘B’ medical expenses incurred by ‘B’.
d) To receive back the goods:-
It is the duty of the Bailor to receive back the goods when the Bailee returns them after the expiry of the term of the Bailment or when the purpose for which Bailment was created has been accomplished. If the Bailor refuses to receive back the goods, the entitled to receive compensation from the Bailor for the necessary expenses of custody.
e) To indemnify the Bailee:-
Where the title of the Bilor to the goods is defective and the Bailee suffers as a consequence, the Bailor is responsible to the Bailee may sustain by reason that the Bailor was not entitled to make Bailment, or to receive back the goods, or to give directions respecting them.
4) Case Law:-
1) Hyman & Wife V/S Nye & Sons (1881) 6 QBD 685.
The plaintiff hired from the defendant for a specific journey of a carriage, a pair of horses and a driver. During the journey a bolt in the under-part of the carriage broke, the splinter bar became displaced, the carriage was upset and the plaintiff injured. Holding the defendant liable, justice Lindley said: “ A person who lets out carriages is not responsible for all defects discoverable or not; he is not an insurer against all the defects which care and skill guard against. His duty is to supply a carriage as fit for the purpose for which it is hired as care and skill can render it”.
2) Reed V/S Dean (1949) 1 KB 188.
The plaintiff hired a motor launch from the defendant for a holiday on the river Thames. The launch caught fire, and the plaintiffs were unable to extinguish it, the fire-fighting equipment being out of order. They were injured and suffered loss. The court held that there was an implied undertaking that the launch was as fit for the purpose for which it was hired as reasonable care and skill could make it. The defendant was accordingly held liable.
3) Lyell V/S Ganga Das, ILRC (1875) 1 AII 60.
Goods consigned without disclosing that they were combustible. Where a bailor delivers goods to another for carriage or for some other purpose, and if the goods are of dangerous nature, the fact should be disclosed to the bailee.
5) Conclusion:-
From the above discussion it can be seen that bailment is a contract whereby a delivery of possession is given of specific goods to another for some purpose with the direction that the goods shall be return or dispose off on fulfillment of the purpose. Bailment is different from licence and sale. There are five important duties of bailor as we have discussed above. A contract of bailment may be terminated by act of parties or by operation of Law.
In this caring we partition bailment based on benefit , it may be isolated into three section
In this kind of bailment, the bailor offers merchandise to bailee for his own motivation and great. It is for the elite advantage of the bailor. For instance A was going on a get-away he gives his pet to B for 4days, B needs to deal with his pet as a bailee however he won’t receive any advantage or prize in return. In this sort of bailment the obligation of bailee is slight since he isn’t taking any sort of advantage and prize out of this agreement of bailment so his obligation is slight. What’s more, the obligation of bailor is extremely high.
For this situation the bailee claims the products for his own motivation and great. The bailor gets nothing. Yet, the bailee is remunerated by the ownership of the products. For instance, an understudy takes books from one of his companions for contemplating. Here the bailee has all the advantages since he is utilizing the book of bailor however bailor isn’t receiving any prize and advantage in return. In this sort of bailment the obligation of bailee is high as the bailor isn’t removing any sort of points of interest from this agreement he is giving his property to the bailee for his utilization as it were. So the level of care is exceptionally high with respect to bailee. Also, the obligation of bailor is slight.
In this kind of bailment both the bailor and bailee benefits. It’s a sort of shared advantage situation where the two players get something out of the agreement they made. For instance if an individual gives his vehicle for fixing, the carport proprietor/bailee will be profited simply like the bailor. Here the two players are getting advantage out of this agreement so the obligation of care with respect to bailee is standard. What’s more, the obligation of the bailor is additionally common .
Unwarranted bailment is a kind of bailment where advantage can be of bailor or bailee however with no money related honor. For instance, obtaining a companion’s vehicle. A needless bailee is obligated for loss of the property just if the misfortune is brought about by the bailee’s gross carelessness. Consequently a lower standard of care is forced upon the bailee in an unnecessary bailment. Unwarranted bailment is likewise alluded to as bare bailment or bailment for sole advantage of bailor. The new York court of offers has simply help in siegel versus stick and co. that a needless bailee will undoubtedly pay harms for penetrate of his guarantee to impact protection on the article of care.
Non-Gratuitous bailment is a kind of bailment where advantage can be of bailor or bailee yet with some financial honor. For instance, obtaining a companion’s vehicle. A needless bailee is obligated for each sort of misfortune and harm to the property. In this way a better quality of care is forced upon the bailee in an unwarranted bailment. Model :- Mr. Sean conveys the vehicle on lease to Mr. Burg Rs. 25,00 for each dayn and X has given over his dress to B who is proprietor of a clothing for washing. At a charge of Rs. 10/ – . Here the two players are being profited.
T. Kalaiselvan, Advocate (Advocate) 31 May 2021
Explained very well by Advocate Ashok Kumar Singh, hope the querist got answers to his question.
P. Venu (Advocate) 31 May 2021
What are the facts? What is the context?
sneha jaiswal 31 May 2021
Hello, Greetings of the day!
Bailment refers to a legal relationship wherein the physical possession of goods or personal property is transferred from one individual to another individual who gets the property's possession for a particular purpose, but not the entire ownership. The person who transfers or delivers the goods is referred as a bailor and the person who takes the goods is referred as bailee.
There are three types of bailment that are mentioned below:
Bailment that benefits both the Bailor and Bailee: An example of this would be watching a movie in a theatre. Bailee would get the benefit of having entertainment by watching the movie and the bailor or owner of the theatre would get the benefit of the fee that is paid. A bailee may face liability for damaging the bailed items if they found negligent.
Bailment that only benefits the Bailor: This is called a gratuitous bailment. When one friend lends his bare act to another friend free of cost would be an example of this. A bailee may face liability for damaging the bailed items if they found grossly negligent or acted in bad faith.
Bailment that only benefits the Bailee: A common example of this would be checking out a book from the library. You could be the bailee in this scenario because you are taking the book. The library (bailor) would receive no benefit from loaning out the book, but would still expect it to be returned at the end of the stipulated period. In this scenario also, a bailee may face liability for damaging the bailed items if they found grossly negligent or acted in bad faith.
Hope it helps
Best Regards,
Sneha Jaiswal
Law Student
Vasundhara Singh (Student) 02 June 2021
Hello, Greetings of the day!
Bailment is a relationship between two persons where one person transfers his property to the other for some specific purpose and limited period. Section 148 of the Indian Contract Act defines Bailment as, “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 are delivered is called, the “bailee”.
Types of bailments:
Bailment for the benefit of the bailor
In this type of bailment, the bailor offers the possession of goods to the bailee for his motive and benefits.
Bailment for the benefit of the bailee
In this bailment, the bailee gets benefited by the bailment as he might use them for his purpose and the bailor gets nothing out of it.
Gratuitous bailment
When the bailor gives the goods or bailee receives the good without any scope of financial gain to either of the parties, such bailment is gratuitous bailment.
Non-gratuitous bailment
When the transfer of good for bailment is done to advance some gains from the bailment, such bailment is called non-gratuitous bailment.
Best Regards,
Vasundhara Singh
Law Student
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