Holds - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition holds

Definition :

Holds, the expression 'holds' includes a two-fold idea of the actual possession of a thing and also of being invested with a egal title. Sometimes it is used only to mean actual possession. But under s. 12 the expression is used in the wider sense, for under that section the person mentioned therein holds land partly for his benefit or partly for the benefit of the beneficiary or wholly for the benefit of the beneficiary, K.K. Handioue v. Board of Agricultural Income Tax, AIR 1966 SC 1191 (1192). [Assam Agricultural Income-tax Act, (9 of 1939), s. 12]

The word 'holds' is not a word of art. It has not been defined in the Act. It has to be understood in its ordinary normal meaning: According to Oxford English dictionary it means, to possess, to be owner or holder or tenant of. The meaning indicates that possession must be backed with some right or title, Hari Ram v. Babu Gokul Prasad, AIR 1991 SC 427 (428): 1991 Supp (2) SCC 608. [Madhya Pradesh Land Revenue Code 1959, s. 185(i)]