Property lawOstensible ownerPrivy Council (on appeal from Bengal)

Ramcoomar Koondoo v Macqueen

(1872) LR IA Supp 40; [1872] UKPC 4618721 min read
The case in brief30-second read
Facts
Property was held benami: the real owner allowed another person to appear as the owner. The ostensible owner sold it to a purchaser for value, and the real owner then claimed it back.
Held
A real owner who allows another to hold himself out as owner cannot recover the property from a purchaser for value who bought in good faith, after reasonable inquiry, without notice of the real title.
Principle
Where the real owner lets another appear as owner (benami), a purchaser for value who buys in good faith after reasonable inquiry, without notice of the true title, takes a good title against the real owner.
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Facts

  • Property was held benami: the real owner allowed another person to appear as the owner.
  • The ostensible owner sold it to a purchaser for value, and the real owner then claimed it back.

Held

  • A real owner who allows another to hold himself out as owner cannot recover the property from a purchaser for value who bought in good faith, after reasonable inquiry, without notice of the real title.
  • The loss falls on the person who made the false appearance possible.

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Citation

Ramcoomar Koondoo v Macqueen (1872) LR IA Supp 40; [1872] UKPC 46

Reported: https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKPC/1872/1872_46.html (not on IK or SCI). This is an educational summary, not the judgment itself. Cite the reported version in professional or academic work.