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DEFINITIONS

For the sake of convenience, clarity, and systematic study, the core statutory definitions under Section 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), 1908, are categorised and discussed under their respective thematic topics as detailed below:

1. Categorisation of Key Definitions

1. Decree [Section 2(2)]: Detailed exhaustively under Topic No. 15 (along with its types, such as preliminary, final, and deemed decrees).

1. Judgment [Section 2(9)]: Detailed under Topic No. 15 (focusing on the essentials of a judgment and its distinction from a decree).

1. Order [Section 2(14)]: Detailed under Topic No. 15 (covering formal expressions of civil court decisions that do not amount to a decree).

DETAILED ANALYSIS: "MESNE PROFITS" [SECTION 2(12)]

1. Statutory Definition

As per Section 2(12) of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, "mesne profits" (pronounced as mean profits) of property refer to those profits that a person in wrongful possession of such property actually received or might, with ordinary diligence, have received therefrom, together with interest on such profits. However, it explicitly excludes any profits accrued due to improvements made to the property by the person in wrongful possession.

2. Core Components of Mesne Profits

To accurately compute and claim mesne profits, the following three statutory criteria must be satisfied:

1. Actual or Potential Earnings: It encompasses the profits that the wrongful possessor actually received, or could have reasonably received had they exercised ordinary diligence (e.g., prevailing market rent for a leased-out property).

1. Component of Interest: It explicitly includes interest on such calculated profits. This is because the rightful owner was deprived of the use of their funds during the period of dispossession. The rate of interest is generally at the court's discretion but is traditionally pegged at 6% per annum.

1. Exclusion of Improvements: It strictly excludes any enhanced profits that arose directly out of value-adding improvements made to the property by the person in wrongful possession. The law does not allow the rightful owner to unjustly enrich themselves from the squatter’s active investments.

3. Object and Underlying Principle

1. Restitution and Compensation: The fundamental object behind awarding mesne profits is to compensate the rightful owner for the deprivation of their property. The liability of the wrongful possessor is guided by the equitable principle of restitution—aiming to place the true owner back into the financial position they would have enjoyed had their possession not been disturbed.

1. Measure of Damages: The true measure of mesne profits is not what the rightful owner lost, but what the person in wrongful possession gained, or could have reasonably gained, through ordinary diligence.

4. Key Judicial Clarifications and Modern Legal Position

1. Wrongful Possession as a Prerequisite: The primary condition precedent for a claim of mesne profits is that the defendant's possession must be wrongful or tortious in nature. For instance, a tenant continuing to occupy a premise after the legal termination of their tenancy (a tenant at sufferance) becomes a trespasser and is liable for mesne profits, not just standard rent.

1. Assessment and Procedure (Order XX, Rule 12): The procedural mechanism for claiming mesne profits is governed by Order XX, Rule 12 of the CPC. The court can pass a decree for the possession of the property while directing an inquiry into the exact quantum of past or future mesne profits from the date of the institution of the suit until the delivery of actual possession to the decree-holder.

DEFINITIONS

For convenience, definitions are discussed at appropriate places in the following topics.

Definitions	Topics
Decree	Topic No. 15.
Judgment	Topic No. 15.
Order	Topic No. 15.

“Mesne Profits” (S. 2 (12)-

    “Mesne profits” of property mean those profits which-

(i) the person in wrongful possession of such property actually received or might, with ordinary diligence, have received therefrom,

(ii) together with interest on such profits,

(iii) but shall not include profits due to improvements made by the person in wrongful possession.

    Thus, the person in wrongful possession of the immovable property is liable to pay ‘mesne profit’ to the rightful person.

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