X found a wallet in a restaurant. He enquireda restaurant nuired of all the customers present there butthe true owner could not be found He hasbanded over the same to the manager of therestaurant to keep till the true owner is found. After a week he went back to therestaurant to enquire about the walletThe manager refused to return it back tosaying that it did not belong to himIn the light of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, can X recover it from the Manager?
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- There is no legal contract made by the Manager or Mr X. So there is no legal binding.
- If there is no proof that Mr X has given the wallet to the owner, it seems impossible to recover if the owner denies it.
- There is an old English saying, Finders, Keepers.Which means whoever founds becomes the new owner.
- As Mr X willingly given that wallet to the owner, it belongs to him now.
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Answer:Responsibility of finder of goods (Section 71 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872): A
person who finds goods belonging to another and takes them into his custody is subject
to same responsibility as if he were a bailee.
Thus, a finder of lost goods has:
(i) to take proper care of the property as man of ordinary prudence would take
(ii) no right to appropriate the goods and
(iii) to restore the goods if the owner is found.
In the light of the above provisions, the manager must return the wallet to X, since X is
entitled to retain the wallet found against everybody except the true owner.
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