The Common Law in India - College of Social Sciences and ...

Civil Law 107patents, copyright, bills of lading, legacies and rightsof action arising out of contract or tort. 98 The Indianstatute defines an actionable claim as a claim to anydebt other than a mortgage debt or to any beneficialinterest in immovable property not in the possessionof the claimant. A chose in action in England iseither legal or equitable. But there is no distinctionin India between legal and equitable claims. Thecommon law did not permit the assignment of a chosein action. Certain kinds of choses in action such asbills of exchange and promissory notes became assignablefirst by the custom of merchants and later bystatute. In equity, however, the assignment of achose in action was recognised at an early period.The Indian Act provides for the transfer of actionableclaims." The mode of assignment provided by itcombines the features of both the statutory andequitable modes of assignment in English law. Likethe statutory assignment it has to be in writing andentitles the assignee to sue in his own name. Likeequitable assignments it applies to assignments byway of charge as well as absolute assignments andtakes effect as between the assignor and the assigneefrom the date of the assignment.The Act has been amended several times. In 1929it was subjected to numerous changes. 1 Some of thesections inserted by the Amending Act of 1929 wereborrowed from the English Law of Property Act of1925. It would therefore clearly be permissible to«s Halsbury, 3rd ed., Vol. 4, pp. 480-482, para. 998.» 9 Transfer of Property Act, sa. 130, 131, 132.1 Ibid., ss. 3, 53A, 60A, 60B, 61, 63A, 65A, 67A. 69A, 92, 101.