Ownership - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition ownership

Definition :

Ownership, does not always mean absolute dominion. The more an owner, for his advantage, opens up his property for use by the public in general, the more do his rights become circumscribed by the statutory and constitutional powers of those who use it, Marsh v. Alabama, 326 US 501, 506: 66 S Ct 276, 278 (1946) (Black, J.).

Means the collection of rights following one to use and enjoy property. Including the right to convey it to possess a thing, regardless of any actual or constructive control. Ownership rights are general, permanent and inheritable, Black's Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 1131.

Means to possess, to have or hold as property, State of Uttar Pradesh v. Renusagar Power Co., (1998) 4 SCC 59: AIR 1988 SC 1737.

The ownership has been defined as 'collection of rights to use and enjoy property, including right to transmit it to others. Ownership is de jure recognition of a claim to certain property. Possession is the objective realisation ownership. It is the de facto exercise of a claim to certain property and a de facto counterpart of ownership. Possession of a right is the de facto relation of continuing exercise and enjoyment as opposed to the de jure relation of ownership. Possession is the de facto exercise of a claim to certain property. It is the external form in which claims normally manifest themselves, B. Gangadhar v. B.C. Rajalingam, AIR 1996 SC 780 (781). (1995) 5 SCC 238.

Ownership denotes the relation between a person and an object forming the subject-matter of his ownership. It consists in a complex of rights, all of which are rights in rem, being good against all the world and not merely against specific person', Salmond on Jurisprudence, 12th Edn., Ch. 8, p. 246 etc. seq; Swadesh Ranjan Singh v. Haradeb Banerjee, AIR 1992 SC 1590 (1592): (1991) 4 SCC 572.