Who owns fish released into a pond?

Question

Question: Virasat Ali, with his own money, on the advice of the chairman of the council and at his repeated insistence and urging, bought through him six thousand fish at the rate of four rupees per thousand and stocked them in the pond of the village community. The chairman also said that, on a proper rent, the fish of this pond would be entered in Virasat Ali’s name in the official papers of the village community.

Answer

Virasat Ali bought that fish, put it into the pond and protected it; it is his property alone, not anyone else’s. Virasat Ali is also the one entitled to its price.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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