1 Concept of Ownership and Possession

(Jurisprudence-II's Units 6–7 supply the theory; this unit applies it to Nepali land law.) Possession = physical control + the intention to hold for oneself (corpus + animus) — a fact, protected even against everyone but the person with better right. Ownership = the complete legal right in rem — to use, income, transfer, exclude — evidenced in Nepal by the lalpurja (the land ownership certificate issued on the land register (kitta napi) maintained through the Land Revenue Offices. The land-lawyering axiom: possession is prima facie evidence of ownership — the possessor of registered land presumed owner until the certificate-holder proves better title; and the possessor in fact enjoys possessory protection even against the owner until lawfully evicted (the Code's possessory suit — recovery of possession).