Apportionment, priority of rights, rent paid in good faith and improvements

1. Section 36: apportionment by time

Section 36 provides that, in the absence of a contract or local usage to the contrary, all rents, annuities, pensions, dividends and other periodical payments in the nature of income shall, upon the transfer of the interest of the person entitled to them, be deemed, as between the transferor and the transferee, to accrue due from day to day, and to be apportionable accordingly, but to be payable on the days appointed for their payment.

Example: A owns a house let to a tenant at Rs. 30,000 a month, payable on the last day of each month. He sells the house to B on the 10th of June. The tenant pays the June rent to B on 30 June. As between A and B, the rent accrued from day to day, so A is entitled to the rent for 1 to 10 June (Rs. 10,000) and B to the rest. B must account to A for A's part.

Points to note:

• The apportionment operates only between transferor and transferee. The tenant still pays the whole amount on the due date, and to the person then entitled.
• It applies to periodical payments “in the nature of income”, not to lump sums or capital payments.
• It can be excluded by contract or local usage.
• The rule matches section 8, under which rent accruing after the transfer passes to the transferee.

2. Section 37: apportionment of benefit of obligation on severance

Section 37 provides that when, in consequence of a transfer, property is divided and held in several shares, and thereupon the benefit of any obligation relating to the property as a whole passes from one to several owners of the property, the corresponding duty shall, in the absence of a contract to the contrary among the owners, be performed in favour of each of the owners in proportion to the value of his share, provided that the duty can be severed and that the severance does not substantially increase the burden of the obligation. Where the duty cannot be severed, or severance would substantially increase the burden, the duty shall be performed for the benefit of such one of the owners as they shall jointly designate. No person on whom the burden lies is answerable for failing to discharge it in the manner provided by the section unless and until he has had reasonable notice of the severance.

The two illustrations:

• (a) A sells to B, C and D a house in a village, leased to E at an annual rent of Rs. 30 and delivery of one fat sheep. B provided half the purchase money and C and D a quarter each. E, having notice of this, must pay Rs. 15 to B, Rs. 7.50 to C and Rs. 7.50 to D, and must deliver the sheep according to the joint direction of B, C and D. The rent can be divided; the sheep cannot.
• (b) In the same case, each house in the village is bound to provide ten days' labour each year on a dyke to prevent inundation. E had agreed, as part of his rent, to perform this work for A. B, C and D each require E to perform ten days' work on account of the house of each. E is not bound to do more than ten days' work in all, according to the directions B, C and D join in giving. Severance would treble his burden, so it is not allowed.

3. Section 48: priority of rights created by transfer

Section 48 provides that where a person purports to create by transfer, at different times, rights in or over the same immovable property, and such rights cannot all exist or be exercised to their full extent together, each later-created right shall, in the absence of a special contract or reservation binding the earlier transferees, be subject to the rights previously created. It enacts the maxim qui prior est tempore, potior est jure: he who is earlier in time is stronger in law.

• A mortgages his house to B in January and to C in March. B's mortgage has priority; C takes subject to it.
• A leases land to B and later sells it to C. C takes the land subject to B's lease.
• The rule applies to rights created by the same transferor. It does not decide contests between persons claiming from different sources.
• Priority can be displaced by a special contract binding the earlier transferee, or by statute: for example, the protection of a bona fide transferee under section 41 or the proviso to section 53A, or the rules on registration, under which a registered document can take effect against an unregistered one relating to the same property.

4. Section 50: rent paid in good faith to holder under defective title

Section 50 provides that no person shall be chargeable with any rents or profits of any immovable property which he has in good faith paid or delivered to any person of whom he in good faith held the property, notwithstanding that it may afterwards appear that the person to whom the payment or delivery was made had no right to receive the rents or profits.

Illustration: A lets a field to B at a rent of Rs. 50, and then transfers the field to C. B, having no notice of the transfer, in good faith pays the rent to A. B is not chargeable with the rent so paid. C must recover it from A.

The protection depends on two conditions: the tenant held the property of the person he paid, and he paid in good faith, that is, without notice of the defect in that person's title or of the transfer. A tenant who has received notice from the new owner and still pays the old landlord is not protected.

5. Section 51: improvements made by bona fide holders under defective titles

Section 51 provides that when the transferee of immovable property makes any improvement on it, believing in good faith that he is absolutely entitled to it, and he is subsequently evicted by any person having a better title, the transferee has a right to require the person causing the eviction either:

• to have the value of the improvement estimated and paid or secured to the transferee; or
• to sell his interest in the property to the transferee at its market value, irrespective of the value of the improvement.

The amount to be paid or secured for the improvement is its estimated value at the time of the eviction. Where the transferee has planted or sown on the property crops which are growing when he is evicted, he is entitled to the crops and to free ingress and egress to gather and carry them.

The section protects only a transferee (not a trespasser or a mere licensee) who believed himself absolutely entitled. A lessee or mortgagee knows he has only a limited interest and cannot claim under section 51. The choice between the two options belongs to the person evicting, not the improver.

6. Problem

T is a tenant of A at Rs. 20,000 a month payable on the 1st. On 15 March, A sells the building to B. T, not knowing of the sale, pays April's rent to A on 1 April. B demands the April rent from T, and the March rent apportioned from 15 March from A.

Issue. Whether T must pay April's rent again to B, and whether B can claim part of the March rent from A.

Law. Section 50 protects a tenant who in good faith pays rent to the person of whom he held the property. Section 36 makes rent accrue from day to day as between transferor and transferee.

Application. T held of A and paid without notice of the sale; he is protected by section 50 and cannot be made to pay April's rent again. B must recover it from A, who received it with no right to it. The March rent was paid in advance on 1 March for the month; as between A and B it accrued from day to day, so A must account to B for the part relating to 15 to 31 March.

Conclusion. B's claim lies against A for April's rent and the apportioned March rent, not against T.

How this is examined

All five sections appear as short notes: “Apportionment” (January 2026), “Priority of rights”, “Rent paid to holder under defective title”, “Improvements made by bona fide holders”. For apportionment, write section 36 with a worked figure and section 37 with both illustrations. Section 51 occasionally appears as a problem about a buyer who builds on land and is later evicted by the true owner.