Transfer of Property Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide
Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1882
Section 80 of Transfer of Property Act: Tacking abolished
Official Bare Act Text
Override / Mandate Mens Rea (Intent) Actus Reus (Conduct) Punishment Limitation Monetary
[Repealed by the Transfer of Property (Amendment) Act, 1929 (20 of 1929), s. 41.]
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 80
Section 80 expressly abolished the English common law doctrine of tacking, prohibiting a subsequent mortgagee from gaining priority over intermediate mortgages by paying off a prior encumbrance.
Abolition of Tacking: No mortgagee paying off a prior mortgage, whether with or without notice of an intermediate mortgage, shall thereby acquire any priority in respect of his original security.
No Right to Squeeze Out Intermediate Mortgages: Expressly bars tacking a third mortgage onto a first mortgage to squeeze out an intermediate second mortgage.
Statutory Chronological Priority: Mortgages rank strictly according to their chronological order of creation/registration under Section 48.
Key Landmark Precedents:
Ganeshi Lal v. Joti Pershad, AIR 1953 SC 1: The Supreme Court noted that Section 80 statutorily abolished the inequitable English doctrine of tacking, establishing clear priority rules based on chronology and public notice.
J.P. Builders v. A. Ramadas Rao, (2011) 1 SCC 429: Affirmed that intermediate encumbrancers are shielded from surreptitious priority manipulation under Section 80.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:
A third mortgagee cannot improve the priority of their third loan by buying out the first mortgage; the second mortgagee's claim remains permanently senior to the third loan under Section 80.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 80
Section 80 expressly abolished the English common law doctrine of tacking, prohibiting a subsequent mortgagee from gaining priority over intermediate mortgages by paying off a prior encumbrance.
A third mortgagee cannot improve the priority of their third loan by buying out the first mortgage; the second mortgagee's claim remains permanently senior to the third loan under Section 80.