This faculty seminar will feature a presentation by Mahima Balaji, Assistant Professor (Law), on ‘The Mythical Mortgage of Movables in Indian Law.’

Abstract

The ‘mortgage of movables’ has quietly entered the vocabulary of Indian private law. It appears in judicial decisions, has found legislative recognition, and is also used in commercial practice. Yet the expression sits uneasily with the statutory taxonomy of Indian private law, where the mortgage has traditionally been understood as a proprietary security over immovable property. In this context, this article examines the juridical foundations of the mortgage of movables through its historical development, statutory expression, and judicial evolution. Drawing upon the statutory taxonomy of proprietary security in Indian private law – particularly the Transfer of Property Act 1882, the Indian Contract Act 1872, and the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 – this article argues that although the mortgage of movables has acquired judicial and legislative recognition, authorities have yet to identify a coherent juridical basis for its recognition. In this sense, it is suggested that the mortgage of movables resembles a legal myth. Not because it is legally non-existent, but because it has acquired acceptance through repetition, despite its uncertain juridical foundations.