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Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai

Program: B.A.LLB. Semester: I

Course: Law of Torts, Consumer Protection and Motor Vehicles Code:

Act, 1988

Teaching Scheme Evaluation scheme

Lecture Practical Tutorial Credit Internal Term End

Continuous Examinations
Assessment (ICA) (TEE)
(Weightage) (Weightage)

60 4 50 50

Objectives:

1 To impart knowledge about the concepts and essentials relating to imposition of civil
liability.
2 To acquaint students with the recent policy developments in various consumer goods and
services.
3 To inform students about Motor Vehicle Act and working of Motor Vehicle Accident
Tribunal.

Outcomes:
After completion of the course, students would be able to:
1. Understand the principles and nature of tortuous liability.

2. Know the rules relating to imposition of liability for acts committed by others.

3. Apply the torts of Negligence and Nuisance in day-to-day life together with the general defences
available in such actions.
4. Study the recent changes introduced through the Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2018.
5. Learn the principles involved in No fault liability or Third-Party Insurance under Motor Vehicles
Act, 1988.

Detailed Syllabus: (per session plan)

Page 1 of 6
Unit Description Duration
in hrs.

1 Definition and Nature of the Law of Tort 7

(a). Definition, nature and history of the Law of Torts
(b). “Law of Tort” or “Law of Torts”
(c). Salmond (Pigeon Hole Theory) and Windfield’s Theory
(d). Difference between Tort & Crime, Tort & Contract. ∙
(e). Basis of the tortuous liability;
(f). Basic legal maxims for determination of liability - Ubi jus Ibi
remedium, Ibi Jus Ubi Remedium, Injuria Sine Damnum and
Damnum Sine Injuria.
Case Laws:
Ashby v. White (1703) 2 LR 938
Rudal Shah v. State of Bihar, AIR 1983 SC 1086
Saheli v. Commissioner of Police, Delhi AIR 1990 SC 5134
Gloucester Grammer School case (1410)
Mayor of Broadford Corporation v. Pickles (1895) AC 5876
Bhim Singh v. State of Jammu & Kashmir AIR 1986 SC 4947
Usha Ben v. Bhagya Laxmi Chitra Mandir AIR 1978 Guj. 13

2 Standing of a person in Tort

(a). Locus Standi – Traditional Doctrine 5
(b). Liberalisation of Locus Standi in Public Interest Litigation
(c). Who cannot be sued:
(i). Sovereign
(ii). Ambassadors
(iii). Corporations
(iv). Infants
(v). Lunatics and Drunken Person
(vi). Married Women
(d). Who cannot sue
(i). Convicts
(ii). Alien Enemies
(iii). Insolvents
Case Laws :
Charan Lal Sahu v. Union of India, (1990) 1 SCC 613
South Hilton Coal Co., v. North Eastern News Association, (1894) 1
QB 133
Walmsley v. Humenick, (1954) 3 D.L.R. 232
Poulton v. London and S.W.E. Rly. Co., (1867) LR 2 QB 534
Tiruveriamuthu Pillai v. Municipal Council, AIR 1961 Mad. 230

3 Torts against Human Being and Property 8

(a). Assault, Battery, Emotional Distress, Malicious Prosecution and abuse
of legal proceedings, Conspiracy, False Imprisonment
(b). Defamation
(i). Freedom of Speech and Expression and liability for
Defamation in the civil and criminal law
(ii). Different branches of Defamation: Libel, Slander and
hybrid types of the Defamation: Innuendo
(iii). Defamation in Blogs & Cyber age;
(iv). Justification for Defamation: Privilege, fair Comment
and Criticism.
Page 2 of 6
 (c). Trespass to land, trespass to goods, Tort of Conversion
Case Laws:
Stephens v. Myers (1830) 4 C & P 349
Stanley v. Powell, (1891) 1 Q.B. 86
Bird v. Jones, (1845) 7 Q.B 742
Mee v. Cruikshank, (1902) 86 L.T. 708
T.S. Bhatt v. A. K. Bhatt AIR 1978 Ker 111
Girija Prasad Sharma v. Uma Shankar Pathak AIR 1973 MP 79

4 Liabilities based on fault 3

(a). Strict Liability: Rule laid down in Rylands v. Fletcher,
(b). Essentials and Exceptions to the rule
(c). Absolute Liability: Meaning and difference between Absolute and Strict
Liability
(d). No fault Liability: Meaning and Importance; Sec. 140 of Motor
Vehicle Act, 1988
Case Laws:
Rylands v. Fletcher, (1868) L.R. 3 H.L. 330
Read v. Lyons and Co., 1947 AC 156
Ponting v. Noakes, 1894 2 QB 281 4. Peters v. Prince of Whales
Theatre (Birmingham) Ltd. (1942) 2 All ER 533
Carstairs v. Taylor, (1871) LR 6 EX 217
M.P. Electricity Board v. Shail Kumar, AIR 2002 SC 5517.
M.C. Mehta v. Union of India, AIR 1987 SC 1086
Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action v. Union of India, AIR
1996 SC 1446
Union Carbide Corporation v. Union of India, AIR 1990 SC 273

5 Liability for the Wrong Committed by Other Persons 8

(a). Principle of Vicarious Liability and its basis i.e. Qui Facit Per Alium
Facit Per Se and Respondent Superior. ∙ Master and Servants,
(b). Principle and Agent
(c). Partners of a firm
(d). State’s Liability: Doctrine of Sovereign Immunity in reference to the
Crown Proceedings Act 1947, Federal Torts Claims Act 1946 and
Article 300 of the Indian Constitution.
(e). Joint Tort Feasors, joint and several liabilities in payment of damages.
Case Laws:
Lucknow Development Authority v M.K. Gupta AIR 1994 1 SC
243
State of Rajasthan v. Vidyawati Devi AIR 1962 SC 933
Donoghue v. Stevenson, 1932, AC 562
Kasturi Lal v. State of U.P. AIR 1965 SC 1039
Nicholes v. Marshland (1876)2 Ex.D. 1
Smith v. London and South Western Railway Co. (1870) LR 6
Peninsular and Steam Navigation Co. Secretary of State for
India (1861) 5 Bom. H.C.R. App. 2
Lloyd v. Grame Smith &Co. (1912) AC 716

Page 3 of 6
6 Nuisance, Negligence, Contributory Negligence 8
(a). History of Nuisance, Nuisance: Meaning and Essentials and
interference with real rights,
(b). Kinds of Nuisance: Public & Private Nuisance
(c). Defences to Nuisance
(d). Remedy for Nuisance,
(e). Negligence as a tort and its essentials
(f). Difference between Negligence and Nuisance
(g). Foresight of harm as test of the existence of negligence, Proximate
Cause and Intervening cause,
(h). Dimensions of Negligence in the present world viz. Professional
Negligence,
(i). Contributory Negligence and Composite Negligence, Last
Opportunity Rule,
(j). Res Ipsa Loquitur
Case Laws:
Donoghue v. Stevenson, (1932) A.C. 562
S. Dhanaveni v. State of Tamil Nadu, AIR 1997 Mad. 257
Glasgow Corporation v. Muir (1943) AC 448
Municipal Corporation of Delhi v. Subhagwati AIR 1966 SC
1750
Bolton v. Stone, (1951) A.C. 850
Bourhill v. Young, (1943) A.C. 92
Rural Transport Service v. Bezlum Bibi, AIR 1980 Cal 165
Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation v. Krishnan, AIR
1981 Kant. 11

7 General Defenses for the Tortuous Liability 8

(a). Volenti non fit injuria
(b). Vis Major (Act of God)
(c). Inevitable Accident
(d). Necessity
(e). Act of Third Parties
(f). Plaintiff’s Default
(g). Private Defence
(h). Mistake

Case Laws:
Hall v. Brooklands Auto Racing Club, (1932) 1 K.B. 205
Padmavati v. Dugganatika, (1975) 1 Kam. LJ 93
Smith v. Backer (1891) AC 325
Dann v. Hamilton (1939) 1 K B 509
Stanley v. Powell (1891)11 Q.B. 86
Haynes v. Harwood (1935) 1 KB 146
Nichols v. Marsland (1876) 2 Ex D. 1
Kallulal v. Hemchand, AIR 1958 M.P. 48
Bird v. Holbrook, (1823) 4 Bing 628

Page 4 of 6
 Hammer Smith Rail Co. v. Brand (1869) L.R. H.L 171

8 Remoteness of Damage 3
(a). Principles for fixing the liability and to ascertain the damages for
the wrong committed.
(b). “But for Test”, “Directness Test” (In Re Polemise Case) and the
“Test of Reasonable foresight” (The Wagon Mound Case).
Case Laws
Haynes v. Harwood, (1935) 1 K.B. 146
Lynch v. Nurdin, (1841) 1 Q.B. 29
In Re Polemis and Furness Withy and Co. (1921)3 KB 560 CA;
Overseas Tankship (U.K) Ltd. v. Morts Dock and Engineering Co.
Ltd. (Wagon Mound Case) (1961) AC 388
Hughes v. Lord Advocate (1963) A.C. 837

9 Consumer Protection Act, 2019 7

(a). Consumer: Concept and definition, who is not a consumer?
(b). Services: Statutory and government services: to be included or not?
Definition and scope:
(c). Service - Deficiency – meaning, Professional services, Medical
Services, How to determine negligence, Violation of Statute, Denial
of medical service: violation of human rights, Lawyering services:
duty-towards-court and duty-to-client dilemma, break of
confidentiality - negligence and misconduct, Public Utilities Supply
of electricity Telecommunication, postal, Housing, Banking,
Insurance services
(d). Unfair Trade Practices, Misleading and false advertising,
Unsafe and hazardous products,
(e). Meaning of defects in goods, Standards of purity, quality,
quantity and potency
(f). Three tier consumer Redressal mechanism: District, State and
National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission: Composition,
Jurisdiction, Powers and Procedure
(g). New additions to the Consumer Protection Act such as E-
commerce consumer, product liability, Manufacturer’s
Liability
Case Laws:
CBI v. Ram Chandra Sahoo, AIR 2011 Ori 164
Godfrey Philips India Ltd. V. Ajay Kumar, AIR 2008 SC 1828
National Insurance Company Ltd. V. State of Jharkhand, AIR 2008
Jhar 84
Raju Thomas v. National Insurance Company Ltd, AIR 2009 Ker 5

10 Motor Vehicles Act,1988 3

(a). Chapter-X Liability without Fault (Ss.140-144): Meaning
and Significance
(b). Chapter-XI Insurance of Motor Vehicles (Ss.145-164): Meaning
and Essentials of Third Party Insurance
(c). Chapter- XII Claims Tribunal (Ss. 165-173)

Page 5 of 6
 Total 60

Text Books:
Ratan Lal and Dhiraj Lal, “The Law of Torts”, Lexis Nexis, 26th Edition, 2012.

Reference Book:

(a). Wienfield and Zolowicz, Torts, 17th Edition., Sweet & Maxwell 2006
(b). Salmond, J W, Salmond’s Law of Torts, 8th edition, Sweet & Maxwell, London, 1934
(c). Fleming, J G, The Law of Torts, 9th edition, LBC Information Services, Sydney, 1998
(d). A Lakshminath M Sridhar, Ramaswamy Iyer’s, The Law of Torts, Lexis Nexis, 10th Edition,
2007
(e). Tony Weir, An Introduction to Tort Law, 2nd Edition Oxford University Press 2006.
(f). John Murphy, Street on Torts , Eleventh Edition, Oxford University Press 2006
(g). Tabrez Ahmad “Cyberlaw, E-Commerce & M-Commerce”, APH Publishing Corporation
New Delhi 2003.
(h). Lee B. Burgunder, Legal Aspects of Managing Technology 2nd Edition West 2001.

Any other information:

Specific assessments / methods Weightage
Continuous assessment

Midterm Examinations 10

Long term project 30

Class Participation 10

End term Exam 50

Total 100

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