Law Faculty

TRESPASS Trespass, in its widest sense, signifies any transgression or offence against the law of nature, of society, or of the country, whether relating to a man’s person or to his property. The principle of ‘trespass’ was that any direct…

Kinds of Nuisance Nuisance is of two kinds: Public or common nuisance and Private nuisance. Public nuisance is a crime (Sec. 268, IPC) whereas private nuisance is a tort or civil wrong. Public Nuisance A public nuisance can be defined…

NUISANCE Nuisance as a tort means an unlawful interference with a person’s use or enjoyment of land, or some right over, or in connection with it. Acts interfering with comfort, health or safety are the examples of it. The interference…

Deceit Deceit is a false statement of fact made by A, knowingly or recklessly, with intent that it shall be acted upon by B, who does act upon it and, thereby, suffers damage (Winfeild). In Peasley v. Freeman: The principle…

CONSPIRACY When two or more persons without lawful justification combine for the purpose of willfully causing damage to the plaintiff, and actual damage results therefrom, they commit the tort of conspiracy. It may consist in the agreement of two or…

Defences to Defamation (1) Justification or Truth In a civil action for defamation truth of the defamatory matter is complete defence (under criminal law, besides being true the imputation must be shown to have been made for public good). The…

Essentials of Defamation (1) The words must be false and defamatory; (2) The said words must refer to the plaintiff; and (3) The words must be published. (1) The Words must be Defamatory Defamatory statement is one, which tends to…

Defamation Every man has a ‘right to reputation’. Defamation is a tort which injures reputation and is therefore actionable. As stated in Dixon v Holden (1869) 7 Eq. 488, “A man’s reputation is his property, and if, possible, more valuable,…

JOINT TORTFEASORS All persons who aid, or counsel, or direct or join in the committal of a wrongful act are joint tortfeasors. Thus, when two or more persons commit tort acting in the furtherance of a common design, they are…

Scienter Action means “Action when there is Knowledge”. This is the principle applied in respect of animals. Animals are broadly classified in to two categories. 1. Ferrae naturae and 2. Mensuetae naturae. Ferrae Naturae means ferocious animals which are by…

Torts – Committed in Exercise of Statutory Duties In India, tort committed while performing duty in discharge of obligations imposed by law has been considered to be a defence. However, for that it is necessary that the tortious act committed…

Vicarious Liability of the State In England, after the passing of the Crown Proceedings Act, 1947, the Crown is liable for a tort committed by its servants just like a private master. In India, Art. 300 of the Constitution provides…

Independent Contractor An independent contractor is a person appointed by the employer to turn out a piece of job. He is different from a servant in as much as a servant is a person who works under the control and…

Vicarious Liability Generally speaking a person is liable for his own acts, but in many cases he may be held responsible for the torts committed by others. This is known as the ‘vicarious liability’ i.e. liability incurred for, or instead…

Rule of Absolute Liability In M.C. Mehta v Union of India (AIR 1987 SC 1086), the Supreme Court evolved the rule of `absolute liability’ as part of Indian law in preference to the rule of strict liability laid down in…

Applicability of Rylands Rule in India The rule of strict liability is applicable in India, however, with certain deviations. The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, recognizes liability of the owner or insurer of the vehicle, without proof of any negligence (`no…

Exceptions to the Rylands rule (Defences) : The rule of strict liability has been made subject to so many exceptions since it was propounded in 1865 that it has lost much of its sting. The following exceptions to the rule…

Strict Liability Simply stated the rule of strict liability makes the defendant liable for accidental harms caused without any intention and negligence on his part. In other words, sometimes the law recognizes ‘no fault’ liability. The undertakers of hazardous or…

Act of God (vis major) : General Defences in Tort According to Pollock act of God is an “operation of natural forces so unexpected that no human foresight or skill could reasonably be expected to anticipate it”. According to Halsbury’s…

Statutory Authority : General Defences in Tort When a statute authorises the doing of an act, which would otherwise be a tort, the party injured has no remedy except the one (if any) provided by the statue itself. The immunity…

Plaintiff, the Wrongdoer : General Defences in Tort One of the principles of equity is that a party who wants some relief must go to the court with clean hands. However, it is doubtful whether the defendant can take such…

Necessity : General Defences in Tort An act causing damage, if done under necessity to prevent a greater evil is not actionable even though the harm was caused intentionally. The defence of necessity is based on the maxim ‘salus populi…

Private Defence : General Defences in Tort The right of private defence is the right to protect one’s own person and property against the unlawful aggression of others. The law permits use of reasonable force to protect one’s person or…

Mistake means when one commits an error in understanding or when one understands or perceives wrongly. Mistake may be of two kinds—(a) Mistake of fact, and (b) Mistake of law. Mistake whether of fact or of law, is generally no…