Equity
& Trust
Twenty-seven chapter notes covering equity as a body of doctrine and the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 — the maxims of equity, the doctrines of specific performance, injunction, election, and part performance, the creation of express, implied, resulting, and constructive trusts, the duties and powers of trustees, the rights of beneficiaries, and the remedies for breach of trust. Maxim first, doctrine second, leading case third.
Equity in the Indian system — maxims, doctrines, and the Trusts Act.
Equity entered Indian law through the courts of the East India Company and was absorbed into the codified law of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Specific Relief Act 1963 codified the equitable remedies of specific performance, rectification, rescission, declaration, and injunction. The Indian Trusts Act 1882 codified the law of express trusts. The Transfer of Property Act 1882 codified the equitable doctrines of part performance, election, and feeding the grant by estoppel. What remains uncodified is the body of equitable maxims and the implied, resulting, and constructive trusts.
These notes anchor every chapter to a maxim, a doctrine, or a section of the Trusts Act. The twelve classical maxims — he who seeks equity must do equity, delay defeats equity, equality is equity — frame the discretionary remedies. The Trusts Act sections frame the express trusts and the duties of trustees. The implied trust doctrines fill the gaps.
Each chapter is designed to be read in twelve to fifteen minutes and to leave the reader with the maxim or section, the doctrine, the requirements, the remedy, and the leading authority.
How to read these notes
Start with the maxim or section.
Every chapter opens with a classical maxim of equity or a section of the Trusts Act. Read it. Equity writing is maxim-and-section led — a question on specific performance, on a breach of trust, or on a constructive trust expects the maxim or section first and the doctrine second.
Identify the kind of trust or remedy.
Every trust question first identifies the kind of trust — express, implied, resulting, or constructive. Every equity question first identifies the remedy sought — specific performance, injunction, rescission, account, tracing. The kind of trust or remedy decides which Trusts Act section or equitable maxim controls.
Test on the leading case.
If you can restate the holding of Bhagwan Dutt v. Kamla Devi, Ramsden v. Dyson, or K. Narendra v. Riviera Apartments in two sentences, you understand the chapter. If not, return to the statutory section and rebuild from there.
All 27 chapters, in 6 groups
Sequenced through the natural structure of the subject — every chapter sits in a doctrinal cluster.Foundations & Maxims
What equity is, the twelve maxims
The historical origin of equity in the Court of Chancery, the meaning of equity in Indian law, the distinction between equity and common law, the codification of equity through SRA and the Trusts Act, and the twelve classical maxims of equity that frame the exercise of equitable jurisdiction.
Equitable Doctrines
Election, lis pendens, part performance, estoppel
The equitable doctrines codified in TPA — election under Section 35, lis pendens under Section 52, part performance under Section 53A, fraudulent transfers under Section 53, and feeding the grant by estoppel under Section 43. The doctrine of conversion. The doctrine of satisfaction. The doctrine of marshalling.
Trusts — Creation & Kinds
Express, implied, resulting, constructive
The definition of trust under Section 3 of the Trusts Act — the obligation annexed to the ownership of property arising out of a confidence reposed. The four kinds of trust — express (declared), implied (inferred from conduct), resulting (where the beneficial interest results to the settlor), and constructive (imposed by equity to prevent unjust enrichment).
Duties & Powers of Trustees
Sections 11–30 — the trust office
The duties of the trustee — to fulfil the trust, to act with reasonable care, to deal with the trust property, to act personally, to act jointly with co-trustees, to keep accounts, and to maintain confidentiality. The powers of the trustee including the power of sale, the power to invest, and the power of variation. The disability of the trustee from purchasing the trust property.
Beneficiaries & Breach of Trust
Sections 55–70 — rights and remedies
The rights of the beneficiary — to rents and profits, to specific execution of the trust, to inspect and take copies, to transfer the beneficial interest, to sue. The liability for breach of trust under Section 23, the measure of damages, and the right of the beneficiary to follow the property and to trace it into hands that are not bona fide purchasers for value without notice.
Specialised Trusts & Wrap-Up
Charitable trusts, public trusts + reference
Charitable and religious trusts including the role of public trusts and the supervisory jurisdiction of civil courts under Section 92 CPC. The position of mutawalli in wakf and shebait in Hindu religious endowments. The interaction between the Trusts Act and the Companies Act on corporate trustees. The landmark Privy Council and Supreme Court decisions on equity and trust.