Restitution - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition restitution

Definition :

Restitution, the restoring anything unjustly taken from another; also putting in possession of lands or tenements him who had been unlawfully disseised of them; a person being attainted of treason, etc., he or his heirs may be restored to his lands, etc., by royal charter of pardon.

The word 'restitution' in its etymological sense means restoring to a party on the modification, variation or reversal of a decree what has been lost to him in execution of the decree or in direct consequence of the decree. In such a proceeding, the party seeking restitution is not required to satisfy the court about its title or right to the property save and except showing its deprivation under a decree and the reversal or variation of the decree, Zafar Khan v. Board of Revenue, AIR 1985 SC 39 (46): (1984) Supp SCC 505: (1985) 1 SCR 287. (Civil Procedure Code, 1908, s. 144)

Return or restoration of some specific thing to its rightful owner or status, Black's Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 1315