Program: Law of Torts including Consumer Protection Act 2019 Semester: I

and Motor Vehicle Act, 1988

Course: LL. B Course Code:

Teaching Scheme Evaluation Scheme

Lecture Practical Tutorial Internal Continuous Term End Examinations
(Hours (Hours per (Hours Credit Assessment (ICA) (TEE)
per week) per week) (Marks - 60) (Marks- 40 in
week) Question Paper)
4 0 0 4 Marks Scaled to 60 Marks Scaled 40

Pre-requisite:
● The Law of Torts encompasses the legal principles governing private rights and remedies, which
are not comprehensively addressed by statutory law.
● This course also integrates key aspects of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and the Consumer
Protection Act, 2019.
● To excel in this course, students should possess a solid understanding of legal maxims and
proficiency in legal language.

Objectives:
1. To study in detail the concept of civil wrong differentiating from contractual liability
2. To study the theory and philosophy of the evolution of torts in Common Law system
3. To examine the differing requirements which lead to civil liability for torts against persons and
personal relations Assault and Battery, False Imprisonment, Defamation, Malicious Prosecution,
interference with immoveable property, Trespass to Land, Dispossession, Nuisance, interference
with goods Trespass to Goods, Conversion, Detention, torts involving deception of others Deceit,
Malicious Falsehood, Passing Off, torts affecting reputation of goods and property, Slander of
Goods, Slander of Title, Maintenance and Champerty, negligence, product and services liability
in the context of Consumer Protection Act
4. To analyze the important judgments laying down the foundations for the principles and doctrines
developed under Law of Torts
5. To make the students well acquainted with this branch of law governing actions for damages for
injuries to certain kinds of rights, like the right to personal security, property and reputation
Outcomes:
After completion of the course, students would be able to:
1. Differentiate different kinds of civil wrong
2. Understand the legal doctrines that form the law of torts
3. Develop an insight of judicial opinions on different aspects of the tort law system

Detailed Syllabus: (Per Session Plan)

Module Description Duration

1. Law of Torts: 12 Hrs.
● Evolution of Law of Tort in Common law- forms and action and
Specific remedies from case to case
● Salmond’s Pigeonhole Theory
● Evolution of Law of Torts in India
● Definitional Issues, Nature, and Scope of Law of Torts- Torts and
Crime; Torts and Contract; Concept of Un-liquidated damages
● Relevancy of intention, motive, and malice in Law of Torts
● Constituents of Torts- Wrongful Act, Legal Damage and Remedy-
Injuria Sine Damno and Damnum Sine Injuria
● Parties: Capacity and Parties in Torts; Joint and Several Tort-feasors;
Malfeasance, Misfeasance, Nonfeasance.
● Defenses: Consent as defence; Volenti non fit injuria; Act of God (Vis
Major); Inevitable Accident; Necessity; Private Defence; Novus actus
interveniens; Contributory Negligence; Statutory Authority; Judicial
and Quasi-judicial Authority; Parental and Quasi-parental Authority.
2. ● Trespass: Trespass to Person; Assault; Battery; Mayhem; False 12 Hrs.
Imprisonment.
● Trespass to Land: Definition; Methods; Trespass abinitio; Distress
Damage feasant, Remedies; Defenses.
● Trespass to Goods: Definition; Essential Elements; Remedies.
● Nuisance: Definition; Types of Nuisances: Private, Public and
Statutory Nuisance; Essentials of Private Nuisance; Remedies;
Defences.
● Negligence: Definition; Elements of Negligence; Res Ipsa Loquitor;
Contributory Negligence; Neighbor Principle, Defences.; Nervous
shock
3. ● Remoteness of Damages 12 Hrs.
● Strict Liability: Introduction; Rule in Ryland v. Fletcher; Dangerous
thing; Escape of thing; Non-natural use of land; Exceptions - Its
criticisms
● Absolute Liability; Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster Case
● Vicarious Liability: Master and Servant; Doctrine of Common
Employment
● Vicarious Liability of State: Basis of Liability; Position in India.
● Government Liability in Torts: Case Study State of Rajasthan Vs.
Vidyavati
4. ● Defamation: Introduction; Definition; Libel and Slander; Its 10 Hrs.
Differences; Essentials of Defamation; Innuendo; Defences.
● Malicious Prosecution: Essential Conditions; Distinction between
Malicious Prosecution and False Imprisonment

5. Consumer Protection Act 2019: 08 Hrs.

 ● Concept of ‘Consumer’ in line with inclusion of online market
platforms
● Impact of Product Liability & Misleading Advertisement.
● Consumer Protection Councils
● Concept of E- Complaint
● Concept of Complaint &Unfair Trade Practices under CPA, 2019
● Procedure for filing a Consumer Complaint & Grievance Redressal
and appeals.
● Concept of Mediation in resolving consumer dispute
6. Motor Vehicle Act,1988: 06 Hrs.
● Introduction to Motor Vehicle Act,1988
● Remoteness of Damages
● No Fault Liability in certain cases.
● Insurance of Motor Vehicle Against Third Party Risks
Total 60 Hrs.

Textbooks:
● W V H Rogers, Winfield & Jolowicz Tort, 19th Edn-2015, Sweet & Maxwell, London
● Law of Tort Including Motor Vehicle Accidents and Consumer Protection Laws, Cases
Selected and edited by Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, July, 2020,
● Law of Tort by AK Jain (Ascent Publications, 8thEdn., 2016)
● G.P.Singh and AkshaySapre , Ratanlal&Dhirajlal The Law of Torts (Lexis Nexis, 28th Edn.,
2019)
● Shubha Gosh, Acing Tort Law: A Checklist approach to Tort Law (West Academic Publishing,
3rdEdn., 2017)
References:
1.A.S. Bhatnagar, Motor Accident Compensation, Orient Law House
2. Basu, Durga Das, Law of Torts, Kamal Law House (2000)
3. Baxi Upendra, Dhanda Amita and Indian Law Institute, Valiant Victims and Lethal Litigation: The
Bhopal Case, N.M. Tripathi, (1990)
4. Baxi Upendra, Paul Thomas, Mass Disaster and Multinational Liability: The Bhopal Case, N.M.
Tripathi, (1986)
5. B M Gandhi, Law of Torts, EBC, Lucknow, 2002
6. Boston Gerald, Madden Stuart M. and Madden M. Stuart, Law of Environmental and Toxic Torts:
Cases, Materials and Problems, West Publishing Company, (2005)
7. Cranor Carl F., Toxic Torts: Science, Law and the Possibility of Justice, Cambridge University Press,
(2006)
8. Fowler Gregory L. and Aspatore Books, International Product Liability Law: A Worldwide Desk
Reference Featuring Product Liability Laws & Customs in 50+ Countries, Aspatore Books(2003)
9. G.P. Singh, Ratanlal & Dhirajlal The Law of Torts (26th ed., updated re-print 2015) 4. Tony Weir, A
Casebook on Tort (9th ed., 2004)
10. Avtar Singh (Rev.), P.S. Atchuthen Pillai Law of Torts (9th ed., 2004)
11. Harpwood Vivienne, Modern Tort Law, Rutledge, (2008)
12. Menon N.R. Madhava, Documents and Court Opinions on Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster Case, National
Law School of Indian University, (1991)
13. Pandey Jai Narain, Law of Torts: With Consumer Protection Act, 1986 and Motor Vehicles Act, 1988,
Central Law Publication, (2002)
14. Pollock Frederick, The Law of Torts: A Treatise on the Principles of Obligations Arising from Civil
Wrongs in the Common Law: To which is Added the Draft of a Code of Civil Wrongs Prepared for the
Government of India”, Biblio Bazaar (2008)
15. P.K.Sarkar: The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, Eastern Law House, Kolkata, 2006
16. Paula Giliker & Silas Beckwith, Tort, 2ndEdn- 2004, Sweet & Maxwell, London.
17. RFV. Heuston & RA Buckly, Salmond and Heuston on Law of Torts, 20th Edn1992, Universal Law
Publishers, Delhi.
18. Ranchhoddas Ratanlal, Thakore Dhirajlal Keshavlal and Singh Guru Prasanna,
Ratanlal&Dhirajlal'sThe Law of Torts, Wadhwa& Co, Nagpur (2008)
19. Ranchhoddas Ratanlal and Thakore Dhirajlal Keshavlal, The Law of Torts, Lexis Nexis Butterworths
Wadhwa, Nagpur (2011)
20. SP Singh & Indrajith Singh, Law of Torts, 4th Edn – 2006, Universal Law Publishers, Delhi. 21.
Salmond John William, Salmond on the Law of Torts, Sweet & Maxwell, 16th Edition, (1973)
22. Salmond Heuston, The Law of Torts, Universal Law Publishing Co. Ltd., (2004)
23. Steele Jenny, Tort Law: Text, Cases & Materials, Oxford University Press (2007)
24. Winfield Percy Henry, Jolowicz J.A. and T. Lewis Ellis,Winfield on Tort, Sweet and Maxwell, (1963)
25. Upadhyay Videh, Public Interest Litigation in India: Concepts, Cases and Concerns, LexisNexis
Butterworths, (2007)
26. Wahl Jenny B., Economic Analysis of Tort and Products Liability Law: A Collection of Essays &
Cases Law and Economics, Routledge, (1998)
27. White Edward, Tort Law in America: An Intellectual History, Oxford University Press, (2003)
Statutory Reading Material:
● The Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991
● The Consumer Protection Act 2019
● The Motor Vehicles Act,1988

Additional Resources (Movies, Documentaries, Reports, Websites, etc. )

Website:
http://lawfaculty.du.ac.in/files/course_material/I_Term/103%20Law%20of%20Torts%20Jul
y%202020%20(1).pdf
Movies:
1.Hot Coffee documentary
2. Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain
3. One Night in Bhopal- BBC documentary
4. Bhopali
5. Sambhavna
6. The Yes Men Fix the World
7. Ankur Arora Murder Case

Any other information:

*The syllabus has been formulated purely on the premises that the units will be executed in a clinical
way through solving a National/ International Moot Problem in the class.

Details of Internal Continuous Assessment (ICA) :

Specific assessments / methods Weightage

Continuous assessment

Assignment I 15
Assignment II 15

Mid Term 30

Total 60