Ostensible ownership under Section 41 cannot validate a transfer beyond a life estate or defeat reversionary title.

Section 41 of the Transfer of Property Act protects a transferee only while the transferor remains an ostensible owner with subsisting authority to convey the interest represented by possession. A widow holding only a life estate could not transfer title beyond that restricted interest, and once her life estate ended, her ostensible ownership also ceased. The transferee therefore could not claim a better title than the transferor possessed, and the sale deed did not defeat the State's reversionary title. The bona fide purchaser plea was unavailable because the doctrine does not validate a transfer beyond the limited owner's life interest.

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Issues: Whether a transferee claiming protection as a bona fide purchaser from an ostensible owner can rely on Section 41 of the Transfer of Property Act to validate a sale made by a widow holding only a life estate and thereby defeat the reversionary title of the State after her death.

Analysis: The limited owner had only a life estate and could not convey an interest beyond that estate. Protection under Section 41 applies only so long as the transferor continues to be an ostensible owner with authority to convey the interest represented by her possession. Once the limited owner dies, her ostensible ownership comes to an end, and the transferee cannot claim a better title than the transferor possessed. The doctrine therefore does not defeat the reversionary claim of the true owner where the transfer is made by a person having only a restricted interest for life.

Conclusion: The plea under Section 41 was not available to the respondents, and the sale deed did not confer title against the State.

Ratio Decidendi: Section 41 of the Transfer of Property Act protects a transferee only to the extent of the ostensible owner's subsisting authority, and it does not validate a transfer of property beyond a limited owner's life estate so as to defeat the reversioner's rights.

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