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Jamia Millia islamia

Iram Peerzada

2nd Semester

Assignment on Law of Torts

Acknowledgement

Before I start off on this endeavor that has been given to me as the torts project in the second semester of this joyful ride that I have undertaken under the flagship of The Faculty of Law, Jamia Millia Islamia, I would like to thank everybody who has been instrumental in my successful completion of my projects.

First, I would like to acknowledge the immense contribution that my professor of torts has had on this project. By creating the basic framework of the subject in my mind through his excellent lectures he also contributed in the creation of the basic framework and limitations of my topic in my mind.

Next, it would be my duty to thank the excellent library staff in the Faculty of Law, Jamia Millia Islamia for their never ending readiness to help anyone in finding exact readings for any such subject that he/she is researching.

Lastly, I would like to thank my classmates who never backed off when I needed them to clarify any concept that I couldn’t catch during the process of the class.

Introduction to Law of Torts

There has been an urgent need in India to reform various sectors of law and torts continue to be ignored, mostly for the reasons of high costs of tort litigation.

Tort is the area of law where in response to a private or civil wrong or injury the courts provide the remedy of allowing a lawsuit for (usually monetary) damages. Thus, the goal is to restore the victim to his or her former condition. It has been suggested that the law of torts is developed in India in a scattered manner, but yet it provides for very effective remedies. Most of Indian tort law was developed after the British colonization. The continued underdevelopment of Indian tort law is surprising given the impressive commitment to both compassion and comprehensiveness embodied in the Indian constitution ratified in 1950 (three years after independence from Britain).

Tort law is said to be a development of the old maxim ubi jus ibi remedium (Every right needs a remedy). Are Indians simply possessed of fewer rights in this important sphere? What are we to make of this underdevelopment regarding a fundamental question in almost all systems of law- how to make the victim whole, how to provide reparation? The law of torts as administered in India in modern times is the English law as found suitable to Indian conditions and as modified by Acts of the Indian Legislature.

The law of torts or civil wrongs in India is thus almost wholly the English law, which is administered as rules of justice, equity and good conscience.

Winfield and Jolowicz- Tortuous liability arises from the breach of a duty primarily fixed by law; this duty is towards persons generally and its breach is redressible by an action for unliquidated damages.

Salmond and Hueston- A tort is a civil wrong for which the remedy is a common action for unliquidated damages, and which is not exclusively the breach of a contract or the breach of a trust or other mere equitable obligation.

Sir Frederick Pollock- Every tort is an act or omission (not being merely the breach of a duty arising out of a personal relation, or undertaken by contract) which is related in one of the following ways to harm (including reference with

an absolute right, whether there be measurable actual damage or not), suffered by a determinate person:-

a. It may be an act which, without lawful justification or excuse, is intended by the agent to cause harm, and does cause the harm complained of.

b. It may be an act in itself contrary to law, or an omission of specific legal duty, which causes harm not intended by the person so acting or omitting.

c. It may be an act violation the absolute right (especially rights of possession or property), and treated as wrongful without regard to the actor’s intention or knowledge. This, as we have seen is an artificial extension of the general conceptions which are common to English and Roman law.

d. It may be an act or omission causing harm which the person so acting or omitting to act did not intend to cause, but might and should with due diligence have foreseen and prevented.

e. It may, in special cases, consist merely in not avoiding or preventing harm which the party was bound absolutely or within limits, to avoid or prevent.

“Torts are civil wrongs for which the injured party may seek legal redressal for.” The injured party in case of torts is entitled to claim ‘unliquidated damages', the judgment of which is given by the judge of a court based on the facts, circumstances and the amount of injury suffered which is actually suffered by the injured party. Tort law is largely based on common sense and the understanding prevalent between people in their everyday interactions with each other. The purpose of tort law is to ensure that people reasonably coexist with each other. In case of a tort case there are two parties involved in it i.e. plaintiff and defendant. Plaintiff is the person whose rights have been violated, the one who has been injured. He is the one who is the complainant, who comes to the court seeking remedy. On the other hand defendant is a person who has violated the rights of the other person and has injured the other person.

Damages are compensation payable to the injured party for injuries sustained because of the wrong committed by the wrongdoer. It is usually the most common remedy of torts. This is so because in torts it is very rare, and almost

impossible, to undo the damage done and restitute a person as they were before suffering the damage. The only way of soothing the injury is by awarding damages, which, though monetary in nature, are compensation, nevertheless. By this I mean that it is the most common remedy in torts.

Unliquidated damages are those damages, the amount or extent of which has not been predetermined or decided before the wrong has committed. In civil wrongs such as torts there are no agreements as the parties are mostly unlikely aware of the fact that something like this will happen, for example when a person trespasses into land of another by unknowingly or in case a person plays loud music which causes harm to someone else, so the damages are not predetermined and are therefore unliquidated.

Law of Torts in India

India has inherited the law of torts from the English legal system. Barring a few civil laws, there are no written laws that specifically and comprehensively deal with the law of torts. It is up to the Indian courts to apply an English tort principle if justice demands it in a certain situation, either entirely, or with appropriate modifications, as is the demand of the case or the facts. But it is of great importance to remember that it is upon the court to decide that such principals are applicable or not. Very few tort claim cases comes to the courts, primarily people are not because people are not aware of their rights, and also because fighting a court case, in Indian scenario, is often not worth the time and effort. This is completely different from countries like America and United Kingdom where the tort claims are frequent as the people are aware of their rights.

Under the Hindu law and the Muslim law tort had a much narrower conception than the tort of the English law. The punishment of crimes in these systems occupied a more prominent place than compensation for wrongs. The law of torts in India is mainly the English law of torts which itself is based on the principles of the common law of England. This was made suitable to the Indian conditions appeasing to the principles of justice, equity and good conscience

and as amended by the Acts of the legislature. Its origin is linked with the establishment of British courts in India.

The expression justice, equity and good conscience was interpreted by the Privy Council to mean the rules of English Law if found applicable to Indian society and circumstances. The Indian courts before applying any rule of English law can see whether it is suited to the Indian society and circumstances. The application of the English law in India has therefore been a selective application. On this the Privy Council has observed that the ability of the common law to adapt itself to the differing circumstances of the countries where it has taken roots is not a weakness but one of its strengths. Further, in applying the English law on a particular point, the Indian courts are not restricted to common law. If the new rules of English statute law replacing or modifying the common law are more in consonance with justice, equity and good conscience, it is open to the courts in India to reject the outmoded rules of common law and to apply the new rules. For example, the principles of English statute, the Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act, 1945, have been applied in India although there is still no corresponding Act enacted by Parliament in India.

The development in Indian law need not be on the same lines as in England. In M.C. Mehta v. Union of India, Justice Bhagwati said, we have to evolve new principles and lay down new norms which will adequately deal with new problems which arise in a highly industrialized economy. We cannot allow our judicial thinking to be constructed by reference to the law as it prevails in England or for the matter of that in any foreign country. We are certainly prepared to receive light from whatever source it comes but we have to build our own jurisprudence.

It has also been held that section 9 of The Code of Civil Procedure, which enables the civil court to try all suits of a civil nature, impliedly confers jurisdiction to apply the Law of Torts as principles of justice, equity and good conscience. Thus the court can draw upon its inherent powers under section 9 for developing this field of liability.

Quasi-contract: “When a person receives some benefit that was to be given to other, than the law says that the person is contractually bound to correct

recipient to compensate him for misplaced benefit.” There is no actual contract between wrong recipient and the right recipient, but law implies contract under which the wrong recipient has to pay back the compensation to the right person. This assumed contract is known as quasi-contract.

Difference between a Tort and Quasi-Contract

In case of tort duty is owed to all members of the public (though only one may be affected) whereas in a quasi-contract, a duty is implied as being owed to a specific person i.e., the rightful recipient. In tort the duty is present at all the times, whereas in case of a quasi-contract is formed because of a particular situation i.e., the wrongful recipient of the benefit etc. also in case of tort the damages are unliquidated, but in case of a quasi-contract the damages may be liquidated damages. Conditions which are necessary for a tort are:

There must be an act or an omission on the part of the defendant or the alleged wrongdoer. In order to be liable for a tort, a person must have done some act which he was not supposed to do.

The act or omission should result in a legal damage, which means that the act or omission must result in the violation of a legal right of the plaintiff or the complainant. The legal damage is called injuria which means ‘legal injury'. One can be injured but he has to be legally injured.

Also there is no general rule in tort law that one must have intended to the wrongful act in order to be held liable. In some torts, such as assault, deceit and conspiracy, the mental condition is relevant, while in most of the other torts the mental condition of the wrongdoer is irrelevant. The reason for this is that tort law requires not just that people not attempt to hurt others, but also that people do their best not to allow their actions to accidently hurt others. So basically tort law primarily wants to catch careless people in order to avoid future misfortunes.

There are two terms which are used to determine whether a party has a valid claim in tort law, i.e. whether the other person could be held liable in a court of law or not. They are:

Injuria sine damno :

This means the violation of the legal right without the cause of actual damage. This is a valid claim in a court of law. For example, if someone trespasses upon the property, he can be held responsible, even if the trespass did not cause any actual damage to the person. The person has a right to non-violation of the bounds of his property and it is this right which has given rise to a tort claim.

Damnum sine injuria:

This means causing of death without the violation of legal right. Such a case will not be valid in the court of law. For example, the fact that a man is injured by another man's act is not sufficient cause; this might be even if the injury-causing act is intentional or deliberate. A violation of legal right is necessary in order for a valid cause of legal action to exist. Now I would like to clear the meaning of three words, these are:

Damage: actual harm suffered by the plaintiff

Injury: the violation of a legally-recognized and protected right

Damages: it means the compensation payable to the plaintiff for the harm caused

General Defenses to Tort Claims

If someone sues one person claiming that the other person has violated the rights of his and has committed a tort, then certain defenses could be taken. The extent to which they apply against different torts, may, however, differ. Some of the defenses which can be used in torts are:

I. Volenti Non Fit Injuria

This means ‘voluntary taking of a risk'. It's when a person chooses to be in the situation that causes the injury. For example, suppose you are a spectator at a cricket match , the batsman hits a six, and the ball lands on your head, then you cannot claim for compensation either from the stadium authorities or the batsman because when you took a seat in the stadium, you accepted the risks while sitting in the stadium. Therefore if the defendant can prove that the plaintiff voluntarily put himself in that situation, he can escape liability. The most important thing to remember is that the action must be voluntary i.e.

with the informed consent of the relevant person. There must not be any cheating or use of any type of force and so the person must put himself in the situation by his own choice. There are two things which should be established in order to use this defense.

1. That the plaintiff knew or could have expected the risks involved in such a situation.

2. That the person agreed by a statement or conduct, to suffer the consequence of the risk without force or compulsion or threat.

By this I want to say that it is not enough to defend by saying that the plaintiff knew the risk; it is also necessary to show that the plaintiff voluntarily agreed to suffer the harm which might be possible in the risky situation. But in case of a master servant relation there might be some sought of pressure on the servant. I would like to give an example, a master orders his servant to go and work in a mine, if one shaft is not in a proper condition, this cannot be assumed that the servant and so in case if there is an accident than the master cannot claim that the servant knew and went voluntarily as there is pressure from the master.

Plaintiff is the wrongdoer: the most important thing in this case would be that the plaintiff did something wrong which caused him the injury. Since he plaintiff did something wrong so he cannot claim damages from someone else for the injury caused to him. For example, if a person walks into someone's house and if it is written on the gate that ‘beware of dog', the dog bites him then the plaintiff entered the house after knowing the risk, as a result he cannot ask for compensation, also he was the wrongdoer.

II. Inevitable accident

When an injury is caused to a person by an event that could not be foreseen and avoided despite reasonable care on the part of the defendant, the defense of inevitable accident can be used. For instance, by ‘inevitable' it is not meant that the accident was bound to happen, but rather, that the accident could not have been avoided despite reasonable care. After all, how can a person are blamed for something that he had no control whatsoever over or could not prevent? For example, a situation where the defense could not be used is that of a person who, while trying to separate two people fighting, hits another

person accidentally. Here the injury is negligence and no negligence is involved.

III. Act of God

This defense is similar to the defense of inevitable accident according to me. The only difference is that in the defense of Act of God the accident happens to occur because of unforeseen natural event. The requirements which are to be satisfied are:

1. the injury most be caused by the effect of natural forces,2. the natural forces must be unforeseen, or the effects must be

unavoidable. So even if a natural event like a storm is taking place, if one can take precautions and avoid the damage, the defense cannot be used.

3. Private defense

If one injures someone, or something that belongs to someone else, while defending self or own property, then one can be excused if the force used to protect self was reasonable. For instance, if someone punches you on stomach and you shoot him that would be an excessive use of force which is not necessary for defending yourself. The following must be satisfied in order t claim this defense:

1. the defendant must be under threat or under attack,2. the defense must be for self-defense and not for revenge,3. the response must be proportional to the attack or threat. The principle

for this is that the law will not hold you responsible for an action that you performed in order to save or protect yourself. If, however, it was not necessary to use force for protection, the law will not protect, and you can't use this defense.

IV. Mistake

Mistake is not usually a defense in tort law. It's not good enough to say that you didn't know you were doing something wrong. This defense can be used in case of malicious prosecution. In malicious prosecution it must be shown that the prosecution was acting with malice.

V. Necessity

In necessity, you have to show that the act you did was necessary in the circumstances. For instance, if one enters someone's private land in order to collect water from his well to put out a fire in his house, that the person was prompted by necessity and the defense could be used in tort claim and it could be used against trespass of property. The level of necessity should be very high. Basically the wrong done should be smaller while comparing it to the importance of right done.

VI. Act under Statutory Authority:

If the act done was under the authority of some statute that is a valid defense. For example, if there is a railway line near your house and the noises of the train passing disturbs then you have no remedy because the construction and the use of the railway is authorized under a statute. However, this does not give the authorities the license to do what they want unnecessarily; they must act in a reasonable manner. I have an example for this from my own life, there was a telephone exchange in my locality and the generators which were used were of very high frequency which was permitted in a residential area, the court asked the exchange to be removed from that place.

Every person has a right to sue another person and every person can be sued by another person. In India a minor can sue just like an adult, the only difference is that the tort action will have to be put forth and proceeded with, in court, by an adult acting on behalf of a minor. In case a minor is sued than, his parents or guardian will have to pay damages to the plaintiff, also the minor could be held liable. Also companies can be sued for the actions of its employees committed when acting as employees of the company i.e. on duty. The judicial authority cannot be sued if they are acting with their capacity. Also the government cannot be sued for any tort claim arising while it is acting within its governmental or sovereign capacity.

Vicarious liability: This deals where a person is liable for the acts of others. This happens where the person who committed the act did it on behalf of someone else. In this case of vicarious liability, both, the person at whose behest the act is done as well as the person who does the act is liable. Vicarious liability can arise from the following relationships

Damages in Tort Law

The word “tort” in law means a wrong or injury, which has certain characters, the most important of which is that is it redressable in an action for damages at the instance of the person wronged or injured. We can consider assault, libel, trespass and nuisance as few examples. A tort, precisely, is the violation of a right of a person or a breach of duty of another towards him/her.

In tort law, a remedy in the form of monetary compensation is given to the aggrieved party. Damages, in a legal sense, is the sum of money, the law impose for a breach of duty or violation of some right. More appropriately, damages are money claimed by, or ordered to be paid to, a person as compensation for loss or injury. Generally there are two categories of damages:

a. Compensatoryb. Punitive

The term “damages” typically includes both categories, but the term “actual damages” is synonymous with compensatory damages and excludes punitive damages. Compensatory damages are intended to relieve the injured party for his loss or injury.

There are other modifying terms placed in front of the word damages like “liquidated damages” (contractually established damages) and “nominal damages” (where the court awards a nominal amount).

The aim of tortious damages is to put the claimant back into the position he/she was in, pre-tort. The claimant will, therefore, be able to recover reliance loss. Damages in tort are subjected to the principles of remoteness, causation ad mitigation. The basic principle is that it should be tried that the claimant be fully compensated for loss as far as this can be done by an award of money.

Efficient damages awards are critical to the optimal functioning of the tort system. Though a number of rules exist for damage calculation, none are “the” rule in every situation. Optimal damage award depends on:

a. The nature of the injury

b. The relationship of the parties and the type of riskc. The liability rule d. Whether liability is individual or vicariouse. Any existing imperfections

DAMAGES IN TORT

Damages are the most important remedy which the plaintiff can avail of after the tort is committed. They are of various kinds:

Nominal damages:

Nominal damages awarded to an individual in an action where the person has not suffered any substantial injury or loss for which he or she must be compensated.

This kind of damages reflects a legal recognition that a plaintiff's rights have been violated through a defendant's breach of duty or wrongful conduct. The amount awarded is ordinarily a trifling sum, such as a dollar, which varies according to the circumstances of each case. In certain jurisdictions, the amount of the award might include the costs of the lawsuit.

In general, nominal damages may be recovered by a plaintiff who is successful in establishing that he or she has suffered a loss or injury as a result of the defendant's wrongful conduct but is unable to adequately set forth proof of the nature and extent of the injury.

For example, an injured plaintiff who proves that a defendant's actions caused the injury but fails to submit medical records to show the extent of the injury may be awarded only nominal damages.

The amount awarded is generally a small, symbolic sum, although in some jurisdictions it may equal the costs of bringing the lawsuit.

The most famous case of nominal damages was when Prime Minister Winston Churchill was awarded a shilling (about 25 cents) in a libel lawsuit he had brought against author Louis Adamic for writing that Churchill had been drunk during a dinner at the White House. The Prime Minister was vindicated, but the jury could not find that his towering reputation had been damaged.

In another case of Constantine v. Imperial London Hotels Ltd., a West Indian cricketer was refused accommodation at a London hotel because of his nationality. He stayed at another hotel arranged by the defendants and he suffered no loss. It was held by Birkett, J. that nominal damages of five guineas are awarded in respect of defendants’ breach of their common law duty as innkeepers to provide accommodation for any traveler.

When a wrong is actionable per se, as for example, in the case of trespass, damage to the plaintiff is presumed and an action lies even though in fact the plaintiff may not have suffered any loss. To justify the concept the nominal damages, Holt, C. J. said, “If a man another cuff on the ear, though it costs him nothing, not so much as a little diachylon, yet he shall have his action against another for riding over his ground, though it did him no damage; for it is an invasion of his property and the other has no right to come here”.

Contemptuous Damages:

Contemptuous damages are awarded when the level of harm caused to the claimant is low and the court feels that the claimant was wrong to bring a claim. They are the mirror image of nominal damages, in that the successful plaintiff is made to pay damages for bringing the lawsuit.

Let us consider the example: Green and Brown are next-door neighbors who have never gotten along. Green’s dog wanders onto Brown’s property one day and relieves himself. Brown steps in the dog’s faces, is disgusted, and sues Green for trespass and for failing to control his dog. The court finds that Brown was technically legally correct and thus he must win the lawsuit, but that the lawsuit was rather ridiculous and wasted everybody’s time. The court will award damages in the amount of the smallest monetary amount, to make this statement to Brown.

Contemptuous damages are a derisory amount awarded to show disapproval at the bringing of a claim. This is where a court awards a very small amount of damages to indicate the court’s disapproval of the court action having been brought at all. This might be relevant in a defamation action, where the court considers that the person bringing the action already has a poor reputation, and that the false statement made about the person is unlikely to damage their reputation much further.

It is to be distinguished from nominal damages because nominal damages are awarded when the plaintiff has suffered no loss, whereas contemptuous damages are awarded when the plaintiff has suffered some loss but he does not deserve to be fully compensated.

Compensatory Damages:

Compensatory damages are recovered in payment for actual injury, which does not include punitive damages (to be discussed later). It is a sum of money awarded in a civil action by a court to indemnify a person for the particular loss, detriment or injury suffered as a result of the unlawful conduct of another. These damages provide a plaintiff with the monetary amount necessary to replace what was lost and nothing more.

One of the more heated issues facing the U.S. legal system during the past quarter century has been the call for reform of states’ Tort Laws. Some Health Care providers and other organizations have sought to limit the amount of damages a plaintiff can receive for pain and suffering because they claim that large jury awards in Medical Malpractice cases cause premiums on medical insurance policies to rise, thus raising the overall costs of medical services. California took the lead in addressing concerns with rising medical costs when it enacted the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act, California Civil Code § 3333.2 (1997). The act limits the recoverable amount for non-economic loss, such as pain and suffering, to $250,000 in actions based on professional Negligence against certain health care providers. Although the statute has been the subject of numerous court challenges, it remains the primary example of a state's efforts to curb medical costs through tort reform.

Other states have sought to follow California's lead, though efforts to limit compensatory damages have met with considerable resistance. Opponents claim that because these limitations greatly restrict the ability of juries and courts to analyze the true damage that plaintiffs have suffered, defendants avoid paying an amount equal to the harm inflicted upon the plaintiffs. Medical organizations, such as the American Medical Association continue to advocate for limitations on damages, however, and they have sought to encourage state legislatures to enact such provisions.

Aggravated Damages:

Damages awarded by a court to reflect the exceptional harm done to a plaintiff of a tort action. When insult or injury to the plaintiff’s feelings has been caused, the court may take into account the motive for the wrong and award an increased amount of damages.

“Aggravated damages are an award, or an augmentation of an award, of compensatory damages for non-pecuniary losses. They are designed to compensate the plaintiff, and they are measured by the plaintiff's suffering. Such intangible elements as pain, anguish, grief, humiliation, wounded pride, damaged self-confidence or self-esteem, loss of faith in friends or colleagues, and similar matters that are caused by the conduct of the defendant; that are of the type that the defendant should reasonably have foreseen in tort cases or had in contemplation in contract cases; that cannot be said to be fully compensated for in an award for pecuniary losses; and that are sufficiently significant in depth, or duration, or both, that they represent a significant influence on the plaintiff's life, can properly be the basis for the making of an award for non-pecuniary losses or for the augmentation of such an award.”

Aggravated damages are an augmentation of general damages to compensate for aggravated injury.

Punitive Damages:

Punitive damages are triggered by conduct that may be described by such epithets as high-handed, malicious, vindictive, and oppressive. They are awarded where the court feels that the award of compensatory damages will not achieve sufficient deterrence and that the defendant's actions must be further punished. Punitive damages bear no relation to what the plaintiff should receive by way of compensation. Their aim is not to compensate the plaintiff, but rather to punish the defendant. ...They are in the nature of a fine which is meant to act as a deterrent to the defendant and to others from acting in this manner. It is important to emphasize that punitive damages should only be awarded in those circumstances where the combined award of general and aggravated damages would be insufficient to achieve the goal of punishment and deterrence.

As explained by McIntyre. J., "Punitive damages, as the name would indicate, are designed to punish. In this, they constitute an exception to the general common law rule that damages are designed to compensate the injured, not to punish the wrongdoer”.

Rules to Quantify Damages

Damages in case of shortening of expectation of life:

The House of Lords laid down certain rules to determine the quantum of damages, in situations where a person’s normal span of life is shortened due to the wrongs done by the defendant1:

The test to determine compensation is not the length of time of life of which a person has been deprived, but it should be the prospect of a predominantly happy life.

The test of happiness of life is not to be subjective, i.e., how the deceased thought about the chances of his own happiness, the test is an objective one.

Very moderate damages should be should be allowed for an action under this head

The economic and social position of a deceased has to be ignored in assessing such damages as the happiness of life does not necessarily depend on such things.

Damages in case of death of a person:

Interest Theory: Here the dependants are paid such lump sum the interest from which would be equivalent to the loss suffered by them. It has to be seen as to how much interest a certain amount will bring if invested in a fixed deposit. Thus if the loss to any dependant is assessed at “x”, such sum could be awarded by way of compensation, which will fetch that much interest every month to such dependant.

We can consider the case of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Campbell2, where the Utah Supreme Court decided on the quantum of damages to be paid using the multiplier theory.

1

2

Other instances of damage calculation:

a. In some cases, the courts deduct a percentage of the capitalized amount in view of the fact of uncertainties like the deceased or dependant’s chance of dying before the expiry of the years for which the multiplier has been used.

b. While deciding on the quantum of damage under the (Indian) Fatal Accidents Act, 1855, factors such as if the plaintiff was being supported by the deceased or had a legal claim to be supported or if the plaintiff can claim damages when the deceased was not an employed person, needs to be kept in mind.

Conclusion

After reading articles on the law of torts and discussing this topic with my friends I feel that the law of torts is not much developed in India. But the tort law has provided physical security to the people. “Tort law evolved through the common law. Historically, basic common law principles were applied to solve legal problems. In the nineteenth century, there was a movement towards systematizing tort law.”

Economic analysis has greatly enriched our understanding of damage rules. It reveals that damages serve a complex and multi-faceted role: deterring risk takers, helping victims spread risks and compensating them for their losses. This has also helped us to design tort liability and design rules, which can guide legislators and courts as they design tort liability and damage rules.

It is suggested that at present damage awards for serious personal injury and death generally are not sufficiently large to induce potential injurers to take due care and engage in optimal activity levels. Yet economic analysis also shows that victims of physical injuries may be receiving too much compensation. This suggests decoupling of defendants’ liability from victims’ compensation should be considered.

While considering the situation in India, it can be seen that all the rules for the purpose of damage calculation are not predominantly utilized. The Multiplier Rule is extensively used to decide on damages in cases of death due to tort.

The Law of Torts is not well developed in India as in countries like the United States of America and the United Kingdom. Hence applicability of its various aspects is also limited in the country.

Damages form a very integral part of Tort Law. The Legislature should come up with sufficient and practical rules and theories for computation of quantum of damages. This will lead to a decrease in ambiguities that we come across in various cases regarding the calculation of compensation.

Bibliography

1) Tort – Winfield and Jolowitz

2) Textbook on Torts – Salmond and Heuston

3) The law of Torts – Ratanlal and Dhirajlal

4) Law of Tort – P.S.A Pillai

5) Law of Torts – R.K. Bhangia