SAKTHI SAI LAW ACADEMY

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1. NEGLIGENCE – LAW OF TORTS

1. Meaning

The word Negligence comes from the Latin term “Negligentia”, meaning disregard or carelessness. In legal terms, negligence is the failure to exercise reasonable care, resulting in damage to another person.

• FORMS OF NEGLIGENCE
• Nonfeasance – Omission to do something that one is legally bound to do.
  Example: Not applying brakes when required.
• Misfeasance – Doing a lawful act in an improper manner.
  Example: Carelessly performing a medical operation.
• Malfeasance – Doing an act that is wrongful in itself.
  Example: Police officer unlawfully assaults someone.

3. TYPES OF NEGLIGENCE

(1) Negligence as a State of Mind

• Refers to carelessness or recklessness while committing other torts (e.g. negligent trespass, negligent nuisance, negligent defamation).
• Supported by Austin, Salmond, and Winfield.
• Formula:
  Negligence + Other Ingredients = Another Wrong

(2) Negligence as a Type of Conduct

• Recognized as an independent tort in itself.
• This objective form of negligence was established in Donoghue v. Stevenson (1932).
• MCQs on Negligence
• 1. The term “Negligence” is derived from which Latin word?
• A) Negligentia
• B) Neglectus
• C) Negligere
• D) Negotium
• Answer: A) Negligentia
• 2. Negligence means:
• A) Intentional harm
• B) Failure to take reasonable care
• C) Strict liability
• D) Vicarious liability
• Answer: B) Failure to take reasonable care
• 3. Doing a lawful act in an improper manner is called:
• A) Malfeasance
• B) Misfeasance
• C) Nonfeasance
• D) Carelessness
• Answer: B) Misfeasance
• 4. Omission to do something which one is legally bound to do is:
• A) Nonfeasance
• B) Misfeasance
• C) Malfeasance
• D) Trespass
• Answer: A) Nonfeasance
• 5. Doing an act that is wrongful in itself is:
• A) Malfeasance
• B) Nonfeasance
• C) Misfeasance
• D) Negligence per se
• Answer: A) Malfeasance
• 6. Negligence as an independent tort was established in which case?
• A) Blyth v. Birmingham Waterworks
• B) Donoghue v. Stevenson
• C) Palsgraf v. Long Island Rly.
• D) Bolton v. Stone
• Answer: B) Donoghue v. Stevenson
• 7. Who propounded the “Neighbour Principle”?
• A) Lord Denning
• B) Lord Atkin
• C) Lord Blackburn
• D) Lord Wright
• Answer: B) Lord Atkin
• 8. The “Neighbour Principle” means:
• A) Care only to family members
• B) Duty to all in the world
• C) Duty to those foreseeably affected by one’s act
• D) Duty to government
• Answer: C) Duty to those foreseeably affected by one’s act
• 9. “You must take reasonable care to avoid acts likely to injure your neighbour” is from:
• A) Blyth v. Birmingham Waterworks
• B) Donoghue v. Stevenson
• C) Palsgraf v. Long Island Rly.
• D) Bourhill v. Young
• Answer: B) Donoghue v. Stevenson
• 10. In Bolton v. Stone (1951), the court held:
• A) Duty of care owed to all passersby
• B) Accident was foreseeable
• C) Harm was too remote to foresee
• D) Absolute liability applied
• Answer: C) Harm was too remote to foresee

2. NUISANCE

Meaning

• Nuisance = Anything which annoys, hurts, or offends another person’s enjoyment of property.
• It is a continuing wrong — must persist for some time; momentary acts are not nuisance.

Definitions

Jurist	Definition
Salmond	Causing or allowing, without lawful justification, the escape of any deleterious thing (e.g., smoke, fumes, noise, heat, etc.) from one’s land to another’s.
Pollock	Wrong done to a person by unlawfully disturbing him in the enjoyment of his property or a common right.
Stephen	Anything done to the hurt or annoyance of the lands or tenements of another, not amounting to trespass.

Types of Nuisance

1. Public Nuisance (Sec. 268, IPC)

• Unreasonable interference with a public right/common good.
• No private action, unless:
  1. Plaintiff suffers special and particular injury beyond public at large.
  2. Injury is direct and substantial, not consequential.

Case: Dr. Ram Raj Singh v. Babulal (1928) – Brick grinding mill caused dust interfering with doctor’s practice → Private nuisance proven due to special injury.

2. Private Nuisance

• Civil wrong under tort law.
• Involves unreasonable interference with another’s use/enjoyment of land.

Essentials:

1. Plaintiff’s Right over Land – must have legal possession or interest.
2. Unreasonable Use by Defendant – interference must be substantial, not trivial.

Continuous Interference – must be ongoing, not momentary

MCQs on NUISANCE – LAW OF TORTS

1. “Nuisance” primarily means:

A) Direct interference with property
B) Anything that annoys or interferes with enjoyment of property
C) A momentary disturbance
D) Only physical damage to property
Answer: B) Anything that annoys or interferes with enjoyment of property

2. Nuisance is a  wrong.

A) Continuing
B) Temporary
C) Accidental
D) Strict liability
Answer: A) Continuing

3. Who defined nuisance as “Causing or allowing, without lawful justification, the escape of any deleterious thing from one’s land to another”?

A) Pollock
B) Stephen
C) Salmond
D) Winfield
Answer: C) Salmond

4. According to Pollock, nuisance means:

A) Escape of dangerous things
B) Disturbance of enjoyment of property or common right
C) Negligent act causing injury
D) A form of trespass
Answer: B) Disturbance of enjoyment of property or common right

5. Stephen’s definition of nuisance includes:

A) Direct invasion of land
B) Act amounting to trespass
C) Anything done to the hurt or annoyance of land not amounting to trespass
D) Negligent omission
Answer: C) Anything done to the hurt or annoyance of land not amounting to trespass

6. Which Section of the Indian Penal Code defines Public Nuisance?

A) Section 268
B) Section 269
C) Section 273
D) Section 278
Answer: A) Section 268

7. Public nuisance affects:

A) A single person only
B) An individual’s private right
C) The public at large or a community
D) The owner of the land only
Answer: C) The public at large or a community

8. To maintain a private action for public nuisance, the plaintiff must show:

A) Public right violation
B) Damage to property
C) Special and particular injury beyond others
D) Negligence by the State
Answer: C) Special and particular injury beyond others

9. The injury in public nuisance must be:

A) Consequential and trivial
B) Direct and substantial
C) Probable only
D) Moral in nature
Answer: B) Direct and substantial

10. Case in which dust from a brick grinding mill interfered with a doctor’s practice:

A) St. Helen Smelting Co. v. Tipping
B) Dr. Ram Raj Singh v. Babulal
C) Robinson v. Kilvert
D) Ushaben Trivedi v. Bhagyalaxmi
Answer: B) Dr. Ram Raj Singh v. Babulal

3.TRESPASS

TRESPASS TO PERSON – LAW OF TORTS

Trespass to person protects an individual’s bodily integrity and personal liberty. It includes:

1. Battery
2. Assault
3. False Imprisonment

1. BATTERY

Definition:
Intentional application of force to another person without lawful justification.

Key Points:

• Force need not cause injury; even trivial contact suffices.
• Can be direct (touch) or indirect (material object).
• Lawful justification examples: saving life, protecting from imminent harm.

Case Laws:

• Leigh v. Gladstone (1909) – Forcibly feeding a hunger-striking prisoner is justified; not battery.
• Stanley v. Powell (1891) – Accidental injury from a pheasant shot not actionable.
• P. Kader v. K.A. Alagarswami (1965) – Handcuffing and chaining a prisoner like an animal = actionable battery.

2. ASSAULT

Definition:
An act causing the plaintiff to have reasonable apprehension of imminent battery.

Key Points:

• Usually precedes battery but can exist independently.
• Defendant must have prima facie ability to inflict harm.
• Conditional or impossible threats do not amount to assault.
• MCQs – Trespass, Nuisance & Defamation (Law of Torts)
  1. Trespass to land is also known as:
  a) Trespass de bonis asportatis
  b) Trespass quare clausum fregit
  c) Trespass to chattel
  d) Conversion
  Answer: b
  2. Trespass is:
  a) Indirect interference
  b) Direct interference
  c) Continuous interference
  d) Occasional interference
  Answer: b
  3. Trespass is actionable:
  a) Only when damage is proved
  b) Actionable per se
  c) Only when intent is malicious
  d) Only with court approval
  Answer: b
  4. In Gregory v. Piper (1829), rubbish thrown on another’s land was held to be:
  a) Nuisance
  b) Trespass
  c) Defamation
  d) Conversion
  Answer: b
  5. In Basely v. Clarkson (1681), mistaken entry on another’s land was held:
  a) Not trespass
  b) Trespass, mistake no defence
  c) Nuisance
  d) Innocent mistake
  Answer: b
  6. In Smith v. Stone (1647), involuntary entry under compulsion was held:
  a) Trespass
  b) Not trespass
  c) Nuisance
  d) False imprisonment
  Answer: b
  7. Trespass ab initio means:
  a) Lawful entry later becomes unlawful
  b) Unlawful entry later justified
  c) Entry by fraud
  d) Entry by accident
  Answer: a
  8. Kelsen v. Imperial Tobacco Co (1957) established trespass when:
  a) Airplane flew overhead
  b) Smoke entered land
  c) Advertisement board projected into airspace
  d) Mining under land
  Answer: c
  9. Entry justified by necessity was recognized in:
  a) Basely v. Clarkson
  b) Esso Petroleum v. Southport Corporation
  c) Gregory v. Piper
  d) Kelsen v. Imperial Tobacco
  Answer: b
  10. Jus tertii defence means:
  a) Plaintiff’s consent
  b) Defendant acting under lawful authority
  c) Third party holds title to property
  d) Mistaken entry
  Answer: c
• 4. DEFAMATION – LAW OF TORTS
• “A man’s reputation is his property, and if possible, more valuable than other property.” – Dixon v. Holden (1869)
• Winfield: “Publication of statement which tends to lower a person in the estimation of right-thinking members of society generally, or which makes them shun or avoid that person.”
• Defamation balances freedom of speech and right to reputation (Art. 19(2), Constitution of India).
• Defamation is both civil and criminal.
• Indian law does not distinguish between libel and slander (unlike English law).
• Essentials of Defamation
• Words must be defamatory
  • Lowers the plaintiff’s reputation in the eyes of society.
  • Test: How a “reasonable right-minded person” perceives the statement.
• Case: South India Railway Co. v. Ramakrishna (1890) – Words were bona fide; no defamation.
• Words must refer to the plaintiff
  • Intentional or accidental reference; even indirect reference counts.
• Cases:
• Halton & Co. v. Jones (1910) – Using plaintiff’s name fictitiously; intent not required.
• Defamation of a class or deceased: No tort unless it affects survivors’ reputation.
• Words must be published
• MCQ DEFAMATION
• 1. Defamation protects:
  a) Property rights
  b) Reputation
  c) Liberty
  d) Contractual rights
  Answer: b
• 2. In India, defamation is:
  a) Only civil wrong
  b) Only criminal offence
  c) Both civil and criminal
  d) Constitutional tort
  Answer: c
• 3. The leading definition of defamation was given by:
  a) Salmond
  b) Winfield
  c) Pollock
  d) Broom
  Answer: b
• 4. For defamation, publication means:
  a) Saying it to plaintiff
  b) Communicating to third person
  c) Writing in diary
  d) Printing without circulation
  Answer: b
• 5. In Nemi Chand v. Khemraj (1973), printing without circulation was held:
  a) Defamation
  b) No publication
  c) Libel
  d) Qualified privilege
  Answer: b
• 6.Truth is:
  a) Complete defence in civil defamation
  b) No defence
  c) Only partial defence
  d) Defence only if malicious
  Answer: a
• 7. Fair comment must be:
  a) Based on false facts
  b) Malicious
  c) Honest opinion on true facts in public interest
  d) Against individuals only
  Answer: c
• 8. McQuire v. Western Morning News Co. (1903) deals with:
  a) Privileged communication
  b) Fair comment on public performance
  c) Criminal libel
  d) Slander
  Answer: b
• 9. Privilege may be:
  a) Absolute or qualified
  b) Direct or indirect
  c) Civil or criminal
  d) General or specific
  Answer: a
• 10 Absolute privilege applies to:
  a) Parliamentary proceedings
  b) Private letters
  c) Fair comment
  d) Newspaper articles
  Answer: a