Liability in tort depends upon:

Question

“In India, the government can be held liable for tortious acts of its servants and can be ordered to be paid compensation to the persons suffering as a result of the legal wrong. Article 294(b) of the Constitution declares that the liability of the Union Government or the State Government may arise “out of any contract or otherwise”. The word otherwise implies that the said liability may arise for tortious acts as well. Article 300 enables the institution of appropriate proceedings against the government for enforcing such liability. … Even prior to the commencement of the Constitution, the liability of the Government for tortious acts of its servants or agents were recognised vide Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. v. Secy. of State, (1868-69) 5 Bom HCR APP 1. After the commencement of the Constitution, there have been several cases in which the Union of India and State Governments were held liable for tortious acts of their employees, servants and agents. All those cases were not necessarily by invoking the writ jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and the High Courts. Though, the Government is liable for tortious acts of its officers, servants or employees, normally, such liability cannot be enforced by a Writ Court. An aggrieved party has the right to approach the competent court or authority to seek damages or compensation in accordance with the law of the land.
... But if fundamental rights have been violated, and if the court is satisfied that the grievance of the petitioner is well founded, it may grant the relief by enforcing a person’s fundamental right. Such relief may be in the form of monetary compensation/damages”.
[Extracted from: Kaushal Kishore v. State of Uttar Pradesh, Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 113 of 2016, decided on January 3, 2023.]

Answer 1

Step 1: Understand the question.
What does liability in tort mainly depend upon?

Step 2: Recall two maxims.
Injuria sine damno means injury to a legal right without actual loss, and it is still actionable. Damnum sine injuria means loss without violation of a legal right, and it is not actionable.

Step 3: Draw the lesson.
These maxims show that tort liability turns on whether a legal right was infringed, not on the amount of damage.

Step 4: Check intention.
Intention matters only in some torts. Many torts like negligence need no intent. So intention is not the core test.

Step 5: Eliminate the others.
The amount of damages and public interest are not the basic ground of liability.

Step 6: Conclude.
Tort liability depends on the infringement of a legal right.

Answer: Infringement of legal right

Liability in tort depends upon:

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The Correct Option is C

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