Law of Torts and its Devolution in India
Law of Torts and its Devolution in India
Soni Bhattarai
The word ‘tort’ has been derived from the Latin word ‘tortum’ which means ‘to twist’ and is
equivalent to the English word ‘wrong’. Law of Torts describes a civil wrong and is essentially
helpful in those cases where a person gets compensated for their losses, by the wrongdoer. The
wrongdoing is called the ‘tortious act’ and the person committing the tort is called a ‘tortfeasor’.
Typically the civil remedy provided by the tortfeasor for the unliquidated damages- damages
with no fixed amount, such as harm to one’s reputation- is money. The principles of justice,
equity and good conscience are said to be the main values in all civil cases which come under the
law of torts. It is different from crime- one of the reasons being- crime is a public wrong and tort
is a private wrong.
The wrongful act may be either morally or legally wrong but to hold the tortfeasor
accountable there needs to be a legal wrong which causes a legal damage, if one wants a remedy
under the law. A religious vegetarian eating chicken, following his own wishes, commits a moral
wrong but if he was forced to eat chicken against his will then the person forcing him commits a
legal wrong. Acts resulting in actual damage without any legal infringement are not liable for
any action under the law of torts. For example, a person who is not allowed to vote suffers from
legal damage, even if the candidate they were about to vote for wins, however, if another person
A, opens a shop in front of B’s shop, causing monetary loss to B, then A is not liable as there is
no legal infringement of B’s rights. A few examples of torts are- nuisance, negligence and
trespass.
Although the law of torts is a derivative of the English law, it is subject to modification to
better suit the culture that people have grown accustomed to. In India, people mostly lack the
knowledge about such laws and their possession of rights regarding this law and have grown to
mostly complain about any inconvenience or damage caused to them, rather than claiming any
compensation for their damages considering it to be too futile and complex. Currently India is
said to have a deficit in the number of tort related cases. The reason for this being the high fees
charged by the lawyers, the duration of time consumed in these proceedings, poor
implementations of the judgements and fear of the societal norms. It is true that since its origin,
law of torts in the European and American countries has far surpassed the usage of the law of
torts in India, however, India is yet to achieve a more superior stand in regard to this aspect of
law .The word ‘tort’ has been derived from the Latin word ‘tortum’ which means ‘to twist’ and is
equivalent to the English word ‘wrong’. Law of Torts describes a civil wrong and is essentially
helpful in those cases where a person gets compensated for their losses, by the wrongdoer. The
wrongdoing is called the ‘tortious act’ and the person committing the tort is called a ‘tortfeasor’.
Typically the civil remedy provided by the tortfeasor for the unliquidated damages- damages
with no fixed amount, such as harm to one’s reputation- is money. The principles of justice,
equity and good conscience are said to be the main values in all civil cases which come under the
law of torts. It is different from crime- one of the reasons being- crime is a public wrong and tort
is a private wrong.
The wrongful act may be either morally or legally wrong but to hold the tortfeasor
accountable there needs to be a legal wrong which causes a legal damage, if one wants a remedy
under the law. A religious vegetarian eating chicken, following his own wishes, commits a moral
wrong but if he was forced to eat chicken against his will then the person forcing him commits a
legal wrong. Acts resulting in actual damage without any legal infringement are not liable for
any action under the law of torts. For example, a person who is not allowed to vote suffers from
legal damage, even if the candidate they were about to vote for wins, however, if another person
A, opens a shop in front of B’s shop, causing monetary loss to B, then A is not liable as there is
no legal infringement of B’s rights. A few examples of torts are- nuisance, negligence and
trespass.
Although the law of torts is a derivative of the English law, it is subject to modification to
better suit the culture that people have grown accustomed to. In India, people mostly lack the
knowledge about such laws and their possession of rights regarding this law and have grown to
mostly complain about any inconvenience or damage caused to them, rather than claiming any
compensation for their damages considering it to be too futile and complex. Currently India is
said to have a deficit in the number of tort related cases. The reason for this being the high fees
charged by the lawyers, the duration of time consumed in these proceedings, poor
implementations of the judgements and fear of the societal norms. It is true that since its origin,
law of torts in the European and American countries has far surpassed the usage of the law of
torts in India, however, India is yet to achieve a more superior stand in regard to this aspect of
law .The word ‘tort’ has been derived from the Latin word ‘tortum’ which means ‘to twist’ and is
equivalent to the English word ‘wrong’. Law of Torts describes a civil wrong and is essentially
helpful in those cases where a person gets compensated for their losses, by the wrongdoer. The
wrongdoing is called the ‘tortious act’ and the person committing the tort is called a ‘tortfeasor’.
Typically the civil remedy provided by the tortfeasor for the unliquidated damages- damages
with no fixed amount, such as harm to one’s reputation- is money. The principles of justice,
equity and good conscience are said to be the main values in all civil cases which come under the
law of torts. It is different from crime- one of the reasons being- crime is a public wrong and tort
is a private wrong.
The wrongful act may be either morally or legally wrong but to hold the tortfeasor
accountable there needs to be a legal wrong which causes a legal damage, if one wants a remedy
under the law. A religious vegetarian eating chicken, following his own wishes, commits a moral
wrong but if he was forced to eat chicken against his will then the person forcing him commits a
legal wrong. Acts resulting in actual damage without any legal infringement are not liable for
any action under the law of torts. For example, a person who is not allowed to vote suffers from
legal damage, even if the candidate they were about to vote for wins, however, if another person
A, opens a shop in front of B’s shop, causing monetary loss to B, then A is not liable as there is
no legal infringement of B’s rights. A few examples of torts are- nuisance, negligence and
trespass.
Although the law of torts is a derivative of the English law, it is subject to modification to
better suit the culture that people have grown accustomed to. In India, people mostly lack the
knowledge about such laws and their possession of rights regarding this law and have grown to
mostly complain about any inconvenience or damage caused to them, rather than claiming any
compensation for their damages considering it to be too futile and complex. Currently India is
said to have a deficit in the number of tort related cases. The reason for this being the high fees
charged by the lawyers, the duration of time consumed in these proceedings, poor
implementations of the judgements and fear of the societal norms. It is true that since its origin,
law of torts in the European and American countries has far surpassed the usage of the law of
torts in India, however, India is yet to achieve a more superior stand in regard to this aspect of
law .
Soni Bhattarai is a first-year BA, LLB (Hons.) student of National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam. She is also a member of the National Service Scheme’s Intellectual Cell of her college which aims in providing service to the community. Apart from writing poems and articles, she also has a passion for dance- of all forms- but especially Bharat Natyam and she also holds a diploma in it.
