The Law of Trust - Page 385

364 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES

  1. An agent has no ownership in law in the goods entrusted to him. If an agent enters into a contract as agent, he is not personally liable. The contract is with the principal.

Trust distinguished from Condition

  1. Cases of condition differ from cases of trust in two respects—

First. A trust of property cannot be created by any one except the owner. But A may dispose of his property to B upon condition express or implied that B shall dispose of his own property in a particular way indicated by A.

Second. The obligation of the person on whom the condition is imposed is not limited by the value of the property he receives, e.g., if A makes a bequest to B, on condition of B paying A’s debts, and B accepts the gift, he will be compelled in equity to discharge the debts although the exceed the value of the property.

  1. But the words “upon condition” may create a real trust. Thus a gift of an estate to A on condition of paying the rents and profits to B constitutes a trust because it is clear that no beneficial interest was intended to remain in A.

A may dispose of his property to B upon condition express or implied that B shall dispose of his property to C. There is a condition in favour of C.

Is this a trust ?

Trust distinguished from Bailment

  1. Bailment is a deposit of chattel and may in a sense be described as a species of trust. But there is this great difference between a bailment and a trust, that the general property in the case of a trust, is in the trustee, whereas a bailee has only a special property, the general property remaining in the bailor.

  2. The result of this difference is that an unauthorized sale by a trustee will confer a good title upon a bona fide purchaser who acquires the legal interest without notice of the trust, whereas such a sale by a bailee confers as a rule no title as against the bailor.

  3. Bailee does not become the owner of the property as a result of the bailment. But a trustee does in law become the owner