Bailment In The Age Of Digital Assets: Traditional Concepts Surviving Intangible Goods
- IJLLR Journal
- 4 days ago
- 1 min read
Bhuvana Shalya, BA LLB (Hons.), PES University, Bangalore, Karnataka
ABSTRACT
This research paper examines whether traditional bailment principles under Sections 148–181 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, a 150-year-old statute never amended for digital realities can adapt to intangible assets like cloud data, crypto currencies, and NFTs (Non fungible tokens). It highlights definitional gaps in "goods" and "delivery," judicial reluctance to impose bailee duties (Sections 152–157) or return obligations (Sections 160–171) in cases like Vuenow fraud and WazirX hack, favoring IT Act or negligence instead and proposes reforms including constructive possession, "digital return" mandates, and a hybrid model inspired by PTC India and UK precedents. In this research the qualitative analysis has affirmed the need for a Digital Bailment Amendment Bill to ensure bailment's survival in the digital economy.
Keywords: Bailment, digital assets, Indian Contract Act, intangible goods, judicial reforms.
