1. The reversion of land ownership back to the lord when the immediate tenant dies without heirs.
2. Reversion of property (especially real property) to the state upon the death of an owner who has neither a will nor any legal heirs.
3. Property that has so reverted.
Thus we see that Doctrine of Escheat is a common law doctrine which transfers the property of a person who dies without heirs to the crown or the state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in ‘limbo’ without recognized ownership.
Doctrine of Escheat also finds mention in Article 296 of the Constitution.
“Article 296 – Subject as hereinafter provided, any property in the territory of India which, if this Constitution had not come into operation, would have accrued to His Majesty or, as the case may be, to the Ruler of an Indian State by escheat or lapse, or as bona vacantia for want of a rightful owner, shall, if it is property situate in a State, vest in such State, and shall, in any other case, vest in the Union.”
Doctrine of Escheat or bona vacantia in India
The Doctrine of bona vacantia or Escheat was declared to be a part of the law in India by the Privy Council as early as in 1860 in Collector of Masulipatam v. Cavary Vancata Narrainappah[1]. This case also held that the General Law of universal application and that General Law was that “private ownership not existing, the State must be the owner as the ultimate Lord”.
The right to acquire by way of escheat or as bona vacantia is not a creature of any Private Law of Succession but is an attribute of Sovereignty. It is true that Statutory provisions of Private Law of Succession such as Section 29 of Hindu Succession Act sometimes expressly recognise right of the State to acquire properties by escheator as bona vacantia. But that right would have been very much there even
