Question:

Principle: Any direct physical interference with goods in somebody's possession without lawful justification is called trespass of goods.

Facts: Z purchased a car from a person who had no title to it and sent it to a garage for repair. X believing wrongly that the car was his, removed it from the garage.

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The principle protects possession, not ownership, and it says nothing about the state of mind of the person who interferes. Both facts about the defective title and the honest mistake are distractions.
Updated On: Jul 17, 2026
  • X can be held responsible for trespass of goods
  • X cannot be held responsible for trespass of goods as he was under a wrong belief.
  • X has not committed any wrong.
  • None of the above.
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The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
The principle gives three ingredients for trespass of goods. There must be a direct physical interference. The goods must be in somebody's possession. The interference must have no lawful justification.
Notice what the principle does not ask about. It never asks about ownership, and it never asks about the state of mind of the person who interferes.

Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
Tick off each ingredient against the facts. If all three are present, trespass is made out, and no extra defence may be invented that the principle did not supply.

Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
First ingredient, direct physical interference. X removed the car from the garage. Driving or taking a car away is as direct and physical as interference gets, so this is satisfied.
Second ingredient, goods in somebody's possession. Z bought the car and sent it to the garage for repair. Possession is not the same thing as ownership. Z had control of the car and had placed it with the garage on his own account, so the car was in Z's possession even though Z had no good title, because the seller had none to pass. The garage held it for Z.
That point matters. The principle protects possession, not title. A wrongful buyer still has possession that the law protects against a stranger, so the defect in Z's title does not help X.
Third ingredient, absence of lawful justification. X had no order of a court, no consent from Z, no lien and no other legal right to the car. His only ground was a belief that the car was his, and that belief was wrong. A mistaken belief is not a lawful justification.
All three ingredients are met, so X is liable for trespass of goods.

Step 4: Why the other options fail:
Option (B) treats X's honest mistake as a defence. The principle says nothing about intention or belief, so mistake cannot be read in as an excuse. Trespass to goods is complete once the interference happens without justification.
Option (C) says X did no wrong at all. That is plainly false, since removing a car that is in another person's possession is the very act the principle labels a wrong.
Option (D) fails because option (A) is correct.

Step 5: Final Answer:
X directly interfered with a car in Z's possession without any lawful justification, and his wrong belief is no defence.
\[ \boxed{\text{Option (A)}} \]
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