KSLU Solved Question Papers
Property Law
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 6
2015 Jun Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 6 Property Law 2015 Jun Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2015 Jun examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2015 Jun examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 3 hours · Total marks 100 · 13 questions answered
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q1Define the term 'immovable property'. State the properties which are judicially recognised as immovable properties.[16]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the definition (section 3 of the Transfer of Property Act by exclusion; section 3(26) of the General Clauses Act; section 2(6) of the Registration Act); the test the courts apply (attachment and its purpose); the properties judicially recognised as immovable, each with its reason: land and buildings; rights arising out of land such as fisheries (Ananda Behera v. State of Orissa); trees meant to stand, as against standing timber (Shantabai v. State of Bombay); machinery permanently embedded (Duncans Industries Ltd. v. State of U.P.), as against machinery merely bolted for steadiness (Commissioner of Central Excise v. Solid and Correct Engineering Works); rights of way, ferries, hereditary allowances; what is not immovable; a table.
The definition
Section 3 of the Transfer of Property Act 1882 does not define immovable property. It says only that "immoveable property does not include standing timber, growing crops or grass". The courts therefore use section 3(26) of the General Clauses Act 1897, under which immovable property "shall include land, benefits to arise out of land, and things attached to the earth, or permanently fastened to anything attached to the earth". Section 2(6) of the Registration Act 1908 names more examples: "land, buildings, hereditary allowances, rights to ways, lights, ferries, fisheries or any other benefit to arise out of land".
Since the statutes give only a general idea, much of the law on what is immovable has been made by the courts. They ask two questions. Is the thing land, or attached to the earth in one of the ways section 3 describes? And if it is attached, was it fixed for the permanent beneficial enjoyment of the land or building? Or was it fixed only to be used and later removed?
1. Land and buildings
Land is the clearest case, and so is anything "imbedded in the earth, as in the case of walls or buildings". A house, a wall, a well or a dam is immovable. So is anything "attached to what is so imbedded for the permanent beneficial enjoyment of that to which it is attached", such as a door, a window or a fan fixed to a house for its use.
2. Rights arising out of land
A right to take something from another's land is itself immovable property, though nothing is touched. Ananda Behera v. State of Orissa, AIR 1956 SC 17, decided on 27 October 1955, concerned oral licences, granted for large sums, to catch and carry away fish from parts of the Chilka Lake. The Supreme Court held that such a right is a profit a prendre, "a benefit to arise out of land", and so immovable property. Its sale needed a registered instrument, and the oral licences passed nothing.
Section 2(6) of the Registration Act names other rights of the same kind. They include rights to ways, lights, ferries and fisheries, and hereditary allowances. Each is a benefit that comes out of land, and each is immovable property for the purpose of registration.
3. Trees, as against standing timber
A tree is rooted in the earth, and so ordinarily immovable. But "standing timber" is excluded. Shantabai v. State of Bombay, AIR 1958 SC 532, decided on 24 March 1958, drew the line. A zamindar had given his wife an unregistered deed to cut and remove timber from his forests. Bose J explained that a tree is "standing timber" only if it is in such a state that, "if cut, it could be used as timber". Trees meant to go on drawing nourishment from the soil, such as fruit trees in an orchard, are immovable. Trees ready and meant to be felled for timber are movable.
4. Machinery permanently embedded
Machinery can become part of the land. Duncans Industries Ltd. v. State of U.P., (2000) 1 SCC 633, decided on 3 December 1999, concerned the sale of a fertiliser factory at Kanpur, with its land and plant, for Rs 70 crores. The buyer said the machinery was movable and should not be valued for stamp duty on the conveyance. The Supreme Court held that "the plant and machinery in the instant case are immovable properties". It said the question "depends upon the facts and circumstances of each case". "Primarily, the court will have to take into consideration the intention of the parties when it decided to embed the machinery whether such embedment was intended to be temporary or permanent." The fertiliser plant was embedded permanently, to run a factory, not to be dismantled.
5. Machinery merely fixed for steadiness
Fixing alone is not enough. Commissioner of Central Excise v. Solid and Correct Engineering Works, (2010) 5 SCC 122, decided on 8 April 2010, concerned asphalt drum and hot mix plants for road building, assembled on site and bolted to a concrete foundation. The makers said they were immovable property. The Supreme Court held that they were fixed only to give "a wobble free operation". "An attachment of this kind without the necessary intent of making the same permanent" did not make the machine part of the earth. The plants "were not immovable property".
The two machinery cases show that the test is the purpose of the attachment, judged from all the facts. The weight of the machine, its size and the depth of its foundation are relevant, but none decides the matter alone. A heavy machine may still be movable if it is meant to be taken away. A light fitting may be immovable if it is meant to stay. A plant built into the land as a permanent factory is immovable. A machine bolted down only so that it runs steadily, and meant to be moved from site to site, remains movable.
Interests in immovable property
The Act also treats certain interests in land as immovable property in their own right. A lease transfers "a right to enjoy" immovable property under section 105, and the lessee's interest may itself be sold, mortgaged or sub-let under section 108(j). A mortgage transfers "an interest in specific immoveable property" under section 58(a). So a lessee's interest and a mortgagee's interest are interests in immovable property. A transfer of them must follow the same rules of form, such as registration, that apply to the land itself.
What the courts treat as movable
- Standing timber, growing crops and grass, by the words of section 3.
- Things resting on the land by their own weight, such as furniture, vehicles or stored goods.
- Machinery fixed only for steady working, as in Solid and Correct Engineering Works.
- The produce of land once severed, such as cut timber or harvested crops.
Why the classification matters
A sale of immovable property worth Rs 100 or more needs a registered deed under section 54. A gift of it needs one under section 123, and a mortgage of Rs 100 or more under section 59. Stamp duty is also usually higher on a conveyance of immovable property. The doctrine of lis pendens in section 52 and part performance in section 53A apply only to immovable property. So the label decides whether a transaction is valid at all.
| Property | Classification | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Land, buildings, walls, wells | Immovable | Section 3; General Clauses Act section 3(26) |
| Right to catch and carry away fish | Immovable (benefit out of land) | Ananda Behera |
| Rights of way, light, ferries, hereditary allowances | Immovable | Registration Act section 2(6) |
| Trees meant to stand and draw nourishment | Immovable | Shantabai |
| Standing timber ripe for felling | Movable | Section 3; Shantabai |
| Machinery embedded permanently as a factory | Immovable | Duncans Industries |
| Property | Classification | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Machinery bolted down only for steadiness | Movable | Solid and Correct Engineering Works |
| Growing crops and grass | Movable | Section 3 |
Conclusion. Immovable property includes land, benefits arising out of land, and things attached to the earth or permanently fastened to what is attached. Standing timber, growing crops and grass are excluded. The courts have recognised a right to fish as immovable, as Ananda Behera holds, and trees meant to stand as immovable, as Shantabai explains. Embedded machinery is immovable when the intention is permanent, as in Duncans Industries. It is not immovable when it is bolted down only to work steadily, as in Solid and Correct Engineering Works.
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