Lease And Licence - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition lease-and-licence

Definition :

Lease and licence, if an interest in immovable property, entitling the transferor to enjoyment, is created, it is a lease; if permission to use land without right to exclusive possession is alone granted, a license is the legal result, Qudrat Ullah v. Municipal Board, Bareilly, AIR 1974 SC 396 (398): (1974) 1 SCC 202. (Transfer of Property Act, s. 105; Easements Act, s. 52)

The difference between a 'lease' and 'licence' is to be determined by finding out the real intention of the parties as decipherable from a complete reading of the document, if any, executed between the parties and the surrounding circumstances. Only a right to use the property in a particular way or under certain terms given to the occupant while the owner retains the control or possession over the premises results in a licence being created; for the owner retains legal possession while all that the licensee gets is a permission to use the premises for a particular purpose or in a particular manner and but for the permission so given the occupation would have been unlawful, C.M. Beena v. P.N. Ramchandra Rao, (2004) 3 SCC 595 (599). [Transfer of Property Act, 1882, s. 105, Easements Act, 1882, s. 52]