Test: Law of Torts - 2 - CUET Humanities MCQ

In the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984, a factory of the Union Carbide Corporation located in Bhopal had a major leakage of methyl isocyanate gas that killed 2260 and injured around 600,000 people.

In tort cases, the victim or the claimant claims that the defendant or the wrongdoer has conducted a wrongful act or is liable for injury incurred by the claimant. Primarily, there are three kinds of wrongs in tort law - the wrongful acts can occur either intentionally or negligently on part of the wrongdoer, or the defendant is strictly liable for the wrongful act.

'Tort' means a 'civil wrong' and originates from the Latin word 'tortum', which means 'twisted' or 'crooked'.

Both options 3 and 4 seem correct, but the last option gives a better explanation and better defence to avoid the liability. The police had interfered with his possession, but that was with lawful justification, i.e. the legal obligation to catch hold of a thief, a criminal, by following him to all parts of the country.

In law, tort is defined as a civil wrong or a wrongful act, of one, either intentional or accidental, that results in the injury or harm to another who in turn has recourse to civil remedies for damages or a court order or injunction.

Torts are a common law subject; common law in the sense that tort law or the rules of tort law developed not from a statute or an act passed by the Parliament, but from centuries of judicial decisions - case by case in English courts as well as in courts of other countries following common law system like India and the United States of America.

The Bhopal disaster, also referred to as the Bhopal gas tragedy, was a gas leak accident on the night of 2-3 December 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. The industrial disaster is considered the world's worst in history.

The three elements of a tort of negligence are:
1) The defendant owes a duty of care to the victim
2) There has been a breach of duty of care on part of the defendant
3) The breach of the duty to care resulted in the harm suffered by the claimant

The law of torts in India is uncodified and is based on common law of England. In the absence of common law, Indian courts apply the principles of justice, equity and good conscience.

Rylands v Fletcher is one of the landmark cases of tort law. In this case, the House of Lords laid down the 'rule of strict liability'. By this rule, a person may be liable for some harm even though he is not negligent in causing the same. Further, this case paved the way for the 'rule of absolute liability' in India.