Indian Contract Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide
Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1872
Section 170 of Indian Contract Act: Bailee's particular lien
Official Bare Act Text
Override / Mandate Mens Rea (Intent) Actus Reus (Conduct) Punishment Limitation Monetary
Where the bailee has, in accordance with the purpose of the bailment, rendered any service involving the exercise of labour or skill in respect of the goods bailed, he has, in the absence of a contract to the contrary, a right to retain such goods until he receives due remuneration for the services he has rendered in respect of them.
Statutory Defined Terms in this Section:(Click any term for official legal definition)
Where the bailee has, in accordance with the purpose of the bailment, rendered any service involving the exercise of labor or skill in respect of the goods bailed, they have, in the absence of a contract to the contrary, a right to retain such goods until they receive due remuneration for the services rendered. This statutory provision codifies the bailee's particular possessory lien.
Bail & Custodial Standards: The statutory lien requires that the bailee must have improved, altered, or enhanced the value of the goods through the application of skilled labor, technical expertise, or industrial craftsmanship—such as in diamond cutting, vehicle repair, ship manufacturing, or textile dyeing.
Core Legal Standard: A particular lien is purely possessory and non-possessory retention is impermissible: if the bailee voluntarily surrenders physical possession of the goods, the lien is permanently extinguished and cannot be revived by subsequent re-acquisition of possession.
Furthermore, unless accompanied by an express contractual power of sale, the lien is strictly a passive right of retention and does not confer an inherent right to sell the property.
Key Landmark Precedents:
Rushforth v. Hadfield (1806) 7 East 224: The Court affirmed that a particular lien is favored by common law where a bailee's skill and labor enhances the value of the chattel.
State Bank of India v. Deepak Malviya (AIR 1996 All 165): The Allahabad High Court held that the bailee's lien under Section 170 requires that skill or labor must have been bestowed upon the goods. Mere storage or maintenance does not create a particular lien unless value is added.
Legal Commentary:
Tailors, watch repairers, mechanics, and automobile workshops routinely exercise particular liens under Section 170. If the customer fails to pay repair charges, the mechanic can lawfully refuse to deliver the car. However, Section 170 gives only a right of retention, not an extra-judicial power of sale.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 170
Where the bailee has, in accordance with the purpose of the bailment, rendered any service involving the exercise of labor or skill in respect of the goods bailed, they have, in the absence of a contract to the contrary, a right to retain such goods until they receive due remuneration for the services rendered. This statutory provision codifies the bailee's particular possessory lien.
Furthermore, unless accompanied by an express contractual power of sale, the lien is strictly a passive right of retention and does not confer an inherent right to sell the property.
Tailors, watch repairers, mechanics, and automobile workshops routinely exercise particular liens under Section 170. If the customer fails to pay repair charges, the mechanic can lawfully refuse to deliver the car. However, Section 170 gives only a right of retention, not an extra-judicial power of sale.