Rights of bailor

According to Section 148 of the Indian Contract Act of 1872, a bailment is a contract wherein one individual gives or delivers the goods to some other individual for some intent. The person who has delivered the goods is known as the Bailor, and the person who has received the goods is known as the Bailee. After accomplishing the task, the Bailee should return the product to the Bailor or try to get rid of them according to the Bailor’s guidelines. 

Bailment: 

The voluntary delivery of the products is referred to as bailment. Besides this, such delivery is for a limited period, after which the Bailee must either revert the products in the same or modified form or try to get rid of them as per Bailor’s recommendations. The rights and duties of the bailor go hand n hand in the bailment contract. 

The Bailor maintains ownership of the product in the bailment contract, and only possession of the products moves to the Bailee. This category of delivery of products could be either actual or constructive bailment type in nature.

When X hands over the keys to a warehouse to Y, this equates to delivering products in the warehouse. Furthermore, X is the Bailor, and Y is the Bailee.

Rights of Bailor:

Concerning the products bailed out by him, the Bailor possesses the below rights on the Bailee. A bailor has the right to cancel the contract under conditions & in addition to the rights mentioned below.

1. Rights of bailor to compel the performance of the Bailee

Because the Bailor delivers goods to the Bailee for a specific purpose, the former has a primal entitlement to accomplish that intent or acquire the advantage of the performance, particularly in the case of non-gratuitous bailment.

For example, if A gives a thick jacket cloth to B, his tailor, to stitch a woollen outfit, A is the Bailor and must ensure that B, the tailor, is doing the work perfectly.

2. Rights of bailor to sue for damages

In all instances of bailment, the Bailor has the right to seek damages for any loss suffered by the goods bailed due to Bailee’s carelessness or wrongdoing.

3. Rights of bailor to recover damages for unpermitted use of goods

Let’s understand this with an example. Joe owns a car. He allows Sam to use his car under the circumstance that only Sam drives his car. Sam allows another person, Amy, his family member, to drive the vehicle. Amy drives cautiously, but the car is injured in an accident. Sam is now obligated to pay for any damages caused by Amy. Since Amy is not directly involved in the contract, Sam to obligated to compensate for the injury caused to the product to Joe.

4. Rights of bailor to demand the return of goods:

After the period of bailment has lapsed or the objective of the bailment has been accomplished, the Bailor has the exclusive right to have the goods bailed given back to the Bailee in safe and healthy condition. Furthermore, in instances of any direct contrast term not mentioned in the contract, the Bailor is obligated to accumulate the products bailed.

For example, A requests B to take care of his brooding duck for a week as he as not in station. When he returned, the ducklings had been hatched by then. A is indeed entitled to the duck and the ducklings.

Types of Bailments:

There are three types of Bailments. They are:

• Bailment Only for the benefit of Bailor
• Bailment Only for the benefit of Bailee
• Gratuitous Bailment

Only for Bailor’s benefit – This type of bailment covers situations where the bailment only benefits the Bailor. Example: Bailor’s car is free to park in Bailee’s free parking lot.

Only for Bailee’s benefit – This type of bailment only would include bailments that benefit the Bailee. The Bailor will make no profit.  Example: Reading books from a common library. In these instances, the person who borrows the book for reading is the Bailee, and the library’s owner who is lending the book for reading is the Bailor. The book can be read for free to gain and acquire insights. Only the Bailee will benefit, and Bailor will not be benefited.

Bailment at no cost: Gratuitous bailment is defined as a bailment from which neither party benefits. This is addressed in Section 150 of the Indian Contract Act. This is also referred to as Gratuitous Bailment. For example, A lends a puppy to a friend’s home for care and protection.

Conclusion 

We discussed Bailment, Rights of Bailor, and other related topics through the study material notes on Biosphere Reserves in India. We also discussed Types of Bailments to give you proper knowledge.  

Bailment is a formal agreement between a bailor and a bailee in which the Bailor gives the bailee possession of his products for a clear objective. When that objective is accomplished, the Bailor ends up taking his products back from the Bailee.  

Bailor can also instruct the Bailee to discard the products or dispose of them off, in full compliance with bailor guidelines. In the bailment, the person who gives another person possession of his private possessions is referred to as the Bailor.