Bona fide
Latin: In good faith.
Also called: Bona fides, Bona fide purchaser
In good faith; genuine and honest, without fraud or deceit. Its opposite is mala fide. Statutes give good faith their own definitions.
Explained
Bona fide means in good faith. It describes conduct that is honest and genuine, without fraud, deceit or collusion. The noun is bona fides, and the opposite is mala fide, in bad faith. In Indian statutes the idea usually appears in its English form, good faith, and its meaning differs from Act to Act.
Two definitions are important. Under Section 3(22) of the General Clauses Act, 1897, a thing is deemed to be done in good faith where it is in fact done honestly, whether it is done negligently or not. Under Section 2(11) of the BNS, nothing is said to be done or believed in good faith which is done or believed without due care and attention. The civil definition stresses honesty and tolerates negligence, while the criminal definition requires due care and attention. Aspirants must apply the definition of the statute in question.
The most frequent use in property law is the bona fide purchaser for value without notice. Under Section 19(b) of the Specific Relief Act, 1963, specific performance may be enforced against a person claiming under the vendor by a later title, except a transferee for value who has paid his money in good faith and without notice of the original contract. Under Section 41 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, a transfer by an ostensible owner is protected only if the transferee took reasonable care to ascertain the transferor's power and acted in good faith. A purchaser who buys during a pending suit with notice of the earlier agreement is not a bona fide purchaser.
The phrase is also used in procedure and rent law. Explanation VI to Section 11 of the CPC treats persons litigating bona fide in respect of a public right, or a private right claimed in common, as representing all interested persons for res judicata. Rent statutes require a landlord's need for the premises to be bona fide. Family arrangements are upheld when they are bona fide, fair and voluntary.
What the law says
Section 3, General Clauses Act
[In this Act, and in all Central Acts and Regulations made after the commencement of this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,—
(1) “abet”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, shall have the same meaning as in the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860);
(2) “act”, used with reference to an offence or a civil wrong, shall include a series of acts, and words which refer to acts done extend also to illegal omissions;
Clause (22) defines good faith as honesty
In this Sanhita, unless the context otherwise requires,––
(1) “act” denotes as well a series of acts as a single act;
(2) “animal” means any living creature, other than a human being;
Clause (11) requires due care and attention
Earlier law: IPC 33. “Act”. “Omission”; 47. “Animal”.; New Sub-Section; 28. “Counterfeit”.; 20. “Court of Justice”.; 46. “Death”.; 24. “Dishonestly”.; 29. “Document”.; 25. “Fraudulently”; 8. Gender.; 52. “Good faith”; 17. “Government”.; 52A. “Harbour“.; 44. “Injury”.; 43. “Illegal”. “Legally bound to do”.; 19. “Judge”.; 45. “Life”.; 42. “Local law”.; 10. “Man”. “Woman”.; 49. “Year”. “Month”.; 22. “Movable property”; 9. Number.; 51. “Oath”.; 40. “Offence”.; 33. “Act”. “Omission”; 11. “Person”.; 12. “Public”.; 21. “Public servant”.; 26. “Reason to believe”
Section 19, Specific Relief Act
Except as otherwise provided by this Chapter, specific performance of a contract may be enforced against—
(a) either party thereto;
(b) any other person claiming under him by a title arising subsequently to the contract, except a transferee for value who has paid his money in good faith and without notice of the original contract;
Protection of a bona fide transferee for value without notice
Where, with the consent, express or implied, of the persons interested in immoveable property, a person is the ostensible owner of such property and transfers the same for consideration, the transfer shall not be violable on the ground that the transferor was not authorised to make it:
Provided that the transferee, after taking reasonable care to ascertain that the transferor had power to make the transfer, has acted in good faith.
Transferee from ostensible owner must act in good faith
Explanation VI.—Where persons litigate bona fide in respect of a public right or of a private right claimed in common for themselves and others, all persons interested in such right shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to claim under the persons so litigating.
[Explanation VII.—The provisions of this section shall apply to a proceeding for the execution of a decree and references in this section to any suit, issue or former suit shall be construed as references, respectively, to a proceeding for the execution of the decree, question arising in such proceeding and a former proceeding for the execution of that decree.
Explanation VIII.—An issue heard and finally decided by a Court of limited jurisdiction, competent to decide such issue, shall operate as res judicata in a subsequent suit, notwithstanding that such Court of limited jurisdiction was not competent to try such subsequent suit or the suit in which such issue has been subsequently raised.]
Explanation VI: persons litigating bona fide for a common right
For the exam
- Means in good faith; opposite is mala fide.
- General Clauses Act, Section 3(22): honesty is enough, even if negligent.
- BNS, Section 2(11): no good faith without due care and attention.
- Bona fide transferee for value without notice is protected (Section 19(b) Specific Relief Act).
- Explanation VI to Section 11 CPC: bona fide representative litigation binds all interested.
162 questions in the Law Maker question bank use this maxim. Practise Legal Maxims & Jurisprudence questions
Judgments
- Thomson Press (India) Ltd. v. Nanak Builders and Investors Pvt. Ltd. (2013)A purchaser who bought the suit property during a specific performance suit, with notice of the prior agreement and in breach of a restraint order, was not a bona fide purchaser but was allowed to be added as a defendant.
- Kale v. Deputy Director of Consolidation (1976)An oral family arrangement needs no registration, and a later petition merely informing the revenue court of it for mutation is not compulsorily registrable; the arrangement, acted upon for years, binds the parties.
Related terms
- Good faithUnder Section 2(11) of the BNS, nothing is done or believed in good faith if it is done or believed without due care and attention. Civil laws accept honesty alone.
- Lis pendensWhile a suit about a right to immovable property is pending, a party cannot transfer the property so as to affect the other party's rights under the eventual decree.
- Res judicataA matter directly and substantially in issue that a competent court has heard and finally decided between the same parties cannot be tried again in a later suit (Section 11, CPC).
- Nemo dat quod non habetA person cannot transfer a better title than he himself has. In Indian law it is embodied in Section 27 of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930, subject to listed exceptions protecting good faith buyers.
- FraudUnder Section 17 of the Contract Act, specified acts by a party to a contract, or with his connivance, or by his agent, done to deceive the other party or induce him to contract.
Further reading
- The General Clauses Act, 1897, official text on India Code
- The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, official text on India Code
- The Specific Relief Act, 1963, official text on India Code
- The Transfer of Property Act, 1882, official text on India Code
- The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, official text on India Code
Checked 6 November 2026. Statutory text is quoted from the Bare Acts library, taken from India Code. See the full glossary.