Legal and Regulatory Accomplishment of purpose  If the goods were bailed for a specific object, the bailment comes

Environment of to an end upon achievement of the said object or purpose.

Business
Death of either party  A gratuitous bailment terminates by the death of either the bailor or the
Notes bailee.
Destruction of subject matter  A contract of bailment also comes to an end if the goods that are
the subject matter of the bailment get destroyed or otherwise become incapable of being used for
bailment any more.

Finder of Lost Goods

A person who finds an article belonging to another is called the finder of lost goods. In the eyes of
the law, the position of a finder of lost goods is exactly that of a bailee. Section 71 says, ‘A person
who finds goods belonging to another, and takes them into his custody, is subject to the same re-
sponsibility as a bailee’. It should be noted that the finder of goods occupies the position of bailee
only against the true owner, since he keeps the goods found in trust only for the real owner. As
against everyone else, the property as regards the goods found vests in the finder on his taking
possession of it.

Duties and rights of finder of lost goods

A finder of goods has the following duties:
1. To exercise reasonable care in preserving the goods found
2. To find the actual owner and restore the goods to him
3. Not to make any personal use of the goods found
4. Not to mix the goods found with his own goods
5. Not to set up any adverse title to the goods found
The law confers the following rights on a finder of goods.
Retain the goods  A finder of goods can retain them against the owner until he (the finder) re-
ceives compensation for expenses and trouble voluntarily incurred by him in finding out the true
owner, and in preserving the goods he has found. He, however, has no right to sue the owner for
such compensation [Section 168].
Sue the owner for reward  Where the owner has offered a specific reward for the return of the
goods lost, he (finder) may sue the owner for such reward and may retain the goods until he receives
it [Section 168].
Sell the found articles  When an article found is commonly the subject of sale and the owner can-
not with reasonable diligence be found, or if he refuses, upon demand, to pay the lawful charges of
the finder, the finder may sell it
1. when the thing is in danger of perishing or of losing the greater part of its value, or
2. when the lawful charges of the finder, in respect of the thing found, amounts to two-
thirds of its value [Section 169].

Pledge
A pledge or pawn is a kind of bailment. It is the bailment of a movable thing as security for the
repayment of a debt or performance of a promise. The bailor in this case is called the Pawnor
or Pledgor, whereas the bailee is called the Pawnee or Pledgee [Section 172].
In order to enforce a contract of pledge, the property pledged should be actually or construc-
tively delivered to the pawnee. Ownership of the pledged goods does not pass to the pledgee.
A pawnee has only a special property in the pledge, the general property remains in the pawnor
and wholly reverts to him on discharge of the debt [Lallan Prasad vs Rahmat Ali4]. Any kinds of
movable goods or property, valuables, documents, or securities may be pledged. The government
securities should, however, be pledged by endorsement and delivery.

Pledge and bailment compared

Self-Learning The contracts of pledge and bailment are similar in two of the following respects
102  Material 1. In both the cases, there is a delivery of movable goods or property;