SEMINAR PROJECT

LAW OF TORT

Kurukshetra university,
Kurukshetra
BA.LLB(HONS)
1ST SEMESTER
NAME:KHUSHI
ROLL NO. :8
NEGLIGENCE
INDEX
1.INTRODUCTION
2.DEFINATION
(With some examples)
3.FORMS OF NEGLIGENCE
(With some examples)
4.ESSENTIALS OF NEGLIGENCE
(With some case laws)
5.CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION
~Negligence in simple word means carelessness.

~The term is derived from latin word negligentia which means ‘failing to pick up’.

~In legal term it means ‘faliure to perform the basic of care which the performers as a
reasonable man should perform have in all the situation.

~It occurs when someone suffers injury because of another’s faliure to live up to required
duty of care
DEFINATION
Negligence is a breach of duty caused by the omission to
do something which a reasonable man, guided by those
considerations which ordinarily regulate the conduct of
human affairs would do, or doing something which a
prudent and a reasonable man would not do.

Acc to Winfield and Jolowicz “Negligence is the breach of

leagal duty to take care which results in damage,undesired
by the defendant to the plaintiff.”
Lord Wright states that “Negligence means
more than headless or careless
conduct,whether in commission or
omission;it properly connotes the complex
concept of duty,breach,and damage
thereby suffered by the person to whom
the duty was owed.”
For eg.
1.A store owner who fails to put up a
“CAUTION: WET FLOOR” after mopping up a
spill.
2.A driver who runs a stop sign causing a
injury crash.
3.A property owner who fails to replace rotten
steps on a wooden porch that collapses and
injures visiting guests.
FORMS OF NEGLIGENCE
It can be characterized into three forms as follows

1.NONFEASANCE
It means the act of faliure to do something which a person
should have done.
For eg. Faliure to carry out the repairs of an old building when it
should have been done.
 CASE LAW
MUNICIPAL CORPORATION OF DELHI VS SUBHAGWANTI
A clock tower fell down in Chandni chowk,Delhi,many people
were injured and many died.The clock tower was not repaired
for many years and tge munivipal corporation was required to
maintain it.The municipal corporation failed to do so and the
tower collapsed.The municipal corporation was held liable as
it was their duty to repair the clock which the failed to do.It
can be called as NONFEASANCE as there was an
omission in performing the compulsory act.
2.MISFEASANCE
It means the act of not doing an action properly when it
should have been done properly.
For Eg. If a doctor performs an action by using rusted
tools or leaves an wrong object in tge stomach during the
surgyery
 CASE LAW
JASBIR KAUR VS THE STATE OF PUNJAB

A newborn baby was missing in hospital and staff of

the hospital was not aware of it.After seaching a
lot,the newborn child was found dead in washroom
and his one eye was squeezed out.The hospital was
held liable as there was a negligence on the hospital’s
part in performing the act properly.It was
MISFEASANCE as tge hospital was negligent and
there was improper performance of lawful act.
3.MALFEASANCE
It means the act of doing something which
should not have been done in the first place
itself
For eg. Using products that are banned and are
combustible still after knowing this using them
to repair an old building,theregore converting
the building into a firetrap leading to an
accident.
ESSENTIALS OF NEGLIGENCE
To commit Tort of Negligence,there are primarly six
main essentials that are required
They are as followed:
1.DUTY OF CARE
2.DUTY TOWARDS PLANTIFF
3.BREACH OF DUTY
4.ACTUAL CAUSE OR CAUSE IN FACT
5.PROXIMATE CAUSE
6.HARM/DAMAGE TO PLANTIFF
1.DUTY OF CARE
It means that every person owes,a duty of care,to
another person while performing an act. Although
this duty in all acts,but in negligence ,the duty is
legal in nature and cannot be illegal or unlawful
and also cannot of moral,ethical or religious
nature.
 CASE LAW
STANSBELE VS TROMAN (1948)
A decorator was engaged to carry out decorations in
house.Soon after the decorator left the house without
locking tge doors or informing anyone.During his
absence,a thief entered the house and stole some
property the value of which the owner of the house
clamied from decorator.It was held that the decorator
was liable as he negligent in leaving the house open and
failed his duty of care.
2.DUTY TOWARDS PLANTIFF
A duty arises when the law recognize a relationship
between the defendant and the plantiff and requires the
defandant owed a duty of care towards the plantiff but it
must also be established which is usually determined by
the judge.
 CASE LAW
DONOGHUE VS STEVESON(1932)

A girl buyed a ginger beer from a shop and gifted her

friend.When the plantiff open it she found a snail in it.It was
held that despite no contract existed between the
manufacturer and the person suffering the damage an action
for negligence could succed since the plaintiff was
successful in her claim that she was entitled to a duty of care
even though the defective good i.e a bottle of ginger beer
with a snail in it was bought not by herself but by her friend.
3.BREACH OF DUTY
The breach of duty means that the person who has
an existing duty of care should act wisely and not
omit or commit any act which he had to do or not
do.
 CASE LAW
RAMESH KUMAR NAYAK VS UNION OF INDIA
The post authorities failed to maintain the
compound wall of post office in good condition
on the collapse of which the defendant sustained
injuries.It was held that postal authorities were
liable since that had a duty to maintain the post
office premises and due to their breach of duty
to do so,tge collapse occurred.Hence they were
liable to pay compensation.
4.ACTUAL CAUSE OR CAUSE IN
FACT
In this the plaintiff who is suing the defandant for
negligence has tge liability to prove is that the defandant’s
violation of duty was the actual cause of the damages
incurred by him.
This is often called the “but-for” causation which means
that, but for tge defendant’s actions,the plaintiff would not
have incurred the damages.
For eg. When a bus strikes a car ,the bus
driver’s actions are the actual cause of the
accident.
5.PROXIMATE CAUSE
Proximate cause means “legal cause” or the cause That
the law recognizes as a primary cause of the injury.It
may not be the first event that set in motion a sequence
of events that led to an injury, and it may not be the
very last event before the injury occurs.Instead,it is an
action that produced foreseeable consequenced without
intervention from anyone else.A defendant in a
negligence case is only responsible for those damages
that the defendant could have forseen through his
actions.
 CASE LAW
PALSGRAF VS LONG ISLAND RAILROAD CO.(1928)
A man was hurrying while trying to catch a train and was
carrying a packed item with him.The employee of the railway saw
tge man who who attempting to board the train and thought that
he was struggling to do so.An employee on tge rail car attempted
to pull him inside the train while other employee who was on the
platform attempted to push him to board the train.Due to the
actions of tge employees,the mandropped the package.While had
contained fireworks,and exploded when it hit the rails.Due to the
explosion,the scales fell from the opposite end of the station and
hit another passenger,Ms. Palsgraf,who then sued the railway
company.
The court held that Ms. Palsgraf was not entitled to
damages because the relationship Between the action
of the employees and the injuries caused to him were
not direct enough.Any prudent person who was in the
position of tge railway employee could not have been
expected to know that the package contained fireworks
that attempting to assist the man the railcar would
trigger the chain of the events which lead to Ms.
Palsgraf’s injuries.
6.HARM/DAMAGES TO THE
PLAINTIFF
Proving that tge defendant failed to exercise reasonable
care us not enough.It should also be proved that the faliure
to whom the defendant owed a duty of care.
The harm may fall into the following classes:-
1.BODILY HARM
2.HARM TO THE REPUTATION
3.HARM TO PROPERTY
4.FINANCIAL LOSS
5.MENTAL HARM
When such damage is proved,the defandant is bound to
compensate the plaintiff for the damages occurred.
 CASE LAW
JOSEPH VS Dr. GEORGE MOONJELY(1994)

The kerala high court awarded damages amounting to Rs

1,60,000 against Surgeon for performing an operation on
a 24 year old girl without following proper medical
procedures and not even administering local anaesthesia.
CONCLUSION
Negligence as tort has evolved from the english law and
accepted by the indian law as substantially important tort.In
order to prove someone negligent ,its necessary to prove all
easentials.
An important maxim regarding negligence i.e Res Ipsa
loquitur is used in courts when a negligent act cannot be
explained.
!!THANK YOU!!