* 68. Those invested with legal authority must pay strict attention to the (various) modes of proof. That even which is provable fails to be proved, if the (prescribed) modes of proof are not attended to.
69. 69 Documents, witnesses, and possession are the traditional three means of proof, by which a creditor endeavouring to recover his loan may obtain what he has lent.
70. 70 If the Creator had not created writing as an
* 77. 77 Though a document be in existence and witnesses living, that is no (true) property of which possession is not actually held. This is specially true as regards immovables.
* 78. 78 If a man is foolish enough to allow his goods to be enjoyed by strangers in his own eyesight, they shall belong to the possessor, even in the presence and during the lifetime of the rightful owner.
* 79. 79 Whatever the owner looking on quietly suffers to be enjoyed by strangers for ten years,
* 81. 81 A pledge; a boundary; the property of a child; an open deposit, an Upanidhi deposit; women; and what belongs to the king or to a learned Brahman, none (of these descriptions of property) is lost (to the owner) by adverse possession.
82. 82 Pledges and the rest, excepting the property of a woman and of the king, are however lost to the owner if they have been enjoyed in his presence for twenty years.
* 89. 89 In cases falling within the memory of man,
* 91. 91 When possession has been successively held, even unlawfully, by the three ancestors of the father (of the present possessor), the property cannot be taken away from him, because it has gone through three lives in order.
* 92. 92 What has been deposited with a third person to be delivered ultimately to the owner (Anvâhita), stolen goods, ordinary deposits, what is held by force, loans for use, and what is being enjoyed during the absence of the owner, these are six (things possessed) without a title.
* 94. 94 After the death of a creditor, witnesses, though available, cannot give valid evidence, except if a statement made by the creditor himself on his deathbed (has been preserved).
95. 95 After the death of the defendant, the deposition of witnesses ceases to make evidence. An attested document retains its validity during his lifetime only.
* 96. 96 Where a pious act is announced by a diseased
58:69 The term pramâna, which has been translated 'means of proof,' is both a philosophical and a law term. A. explains it etymologically, as denoting anything which may be known or discerned accurately. Thus, what is counted or reckoned, may be known by figures. What is capable of measurement, may be known by its measure. Similarly, where a lawsuit is pending, the truth may be known by having recourse to one of the ordinary modes of proof, viz. documents, witnesses, possession, and ordeals. Therefore, these means of proof should be duly applied by holy men, kings, and assessors of the court, and others endowed with legal authority, because that which is doubtful cannot be proved otherwise.
58:70 The term 'documents' in this section seems to relate principally to the well-known land grants which have been found in many
60:76 The apparent contradiction between the first and second parts of this paragraph is thus removed by A.: 'Possession of immovables without a title does not create proprietary right, as stated in par. 84. Therefore, the possessor of landed property becomes its lawful owner, if his right or title is established by witnesses, but not otherwise. Thus far possession is more important than witnesses. In the same way documents with a title are superior to witnesses, and possession with a title is superior to witnesses, documents, and ordeals.'
60:77 This paragraph is intended to show the weakness of proof by witnesses or documents, where it is not accompanied by possession. Generally speaking, any of the three kinds of proof is invalid, where it is not accompanied by one of the other kinds. A. Yâgñavalkya II, 2 7; Manu VIII, 200.
60:78 If a man suffers his movable or immovable property to be enjoyed by another, the latter will become its lawful owner after the lapse of a long period, no matter whether it has been bestowed on him through affection, or forcibly seized by him, or abandoned by its previous owner. A.
60:79 Where, however, the owner, though unable to recover his property, owing to special reasons, proffers his claim to it every day, or every month, or every year, it is not lost to him, even after the lapse of a longer period than ten years. A. Identical with Manu VIII, 147.
61:80 'If he is not an idiot,' nor afflicted by a chronic or agonising disease, nor dumb, blind, or deaf. A. Identical with Manu VIII, 148.
61:81 'The property of children' is not lost, though it has been enjoyed for a long time by their guardian. 'An Upanidhi deposit,' i.e. a valuable article which has been delivered under cover to another person. 'A woman,' one who has been delivered to a stranger as a deposit, and enjoyed by him. 'The property of a king,' i.e. land. 'The property of a learned Brahman,' i.e. cows. A. Kullûka, in commenting on the identical verse of Manu, refers the term 'woman' to 'female slaves,' &c. The rules laid down in pars. 79-81, which recur literally in the code of Manu, seem to belong to an older order of ideas than those contained in pars. 84 foll. It may be presumed that the harsh law under which adverse possession of ten years’ standing was constituted a source of proprietary right, was mitigated at a subsequent period, and has been inserted here as a sort of historical reminiscence only. According to Brihaspati, thirty years is the ordinary period of prescription. Identical with Manu VIII, 149; Vasishtha XVI, 18.
61:82 In this paragraph, as in the preceding one, the term 'a king’s property' is referred to landed property by A. The correctness of this interpretation seems questionable.
62:88 While the possessor is alive, the property which he is enjoying without a title cannot become his. The owner may claim it at any time. When, however, the possessor dies, unmolested by the owner, the property continues to be enjoyed by his heirs. Therefore, the owner should not fail to assert his own right. A.
62:89 The Mitâksharâ explains the term 'what falls within the memory of man' as denoting a period of 100 years, in accordance with a text from the Veda, 'The life of men extends over a hundred years.' If this explanation be correct, the present rule agrees in substance with the rule laid down in 89 b and 91, a period of a hundred years being about equal in duration to three lives. It is
63:91 If the great-great-grandfather has held possession, be it even without a title, of a certain thing, and if it has been enjoyed, after his death, by the great-grandfather and by the grandfather, it cannot be claimed from the father by any one. Vishnu V, 187.
63:92 The term Anvâhita is usually explained, like Anvâdhi, as denoting what has been deposited with a third person to be delivered ultimately to the owner. A., however, explains Anvâhita as denoting a valuable object received from another in exchange for a worthless article.
64:93 Supposing a man were to have obtained possession of the property of a stranger by one of the previously mentioned illegitimate modes of acquisition, if the rightful owner were to impeach him for it, and if the possessor were to die before the case has been decided, in that case the son would have to substantiate his claim, and would not be allowed to continue his enjoyment of the property without doing so. A. Yâgñavalkya II, 29.
64:94 A man says after the death of his creditor, 'I have restored this or that cow, female buffalo, bull, or field to my creditor; certain honest men have witnessed the transaction.' Another man says, 'Your father owes me one hundred drachmas; certain persons have witnessed the transaction.' He dies, however, before his claim has been examined. In either of these two cases trustworthy witnesses even are of no avail. If, however, the creditor has stated his claim before witnesses on his deathbed; or if a man has given evidence as witness on his deathbed regarding a certain loan, about which the creditor has asked him; the testimony of the witnesses has to be considered as valid even after his death. A.
64:95 'The defendant,' i.e. the debtor. An attested document is valid while he lives Only. It loses its validity after his death. A.
64:96 When a diseased father has stated his intentions regarding a religious endowment or other matters of this kind during the absence of his sons, but in the presence of witnesses, the deposition of the latter will be valid even after his death. Similarly, when a man
