KSLU Solved Question Papers
Law of Torts
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 2
2019 Dec Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 2 Law of Torts 2019 Dec Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2019 Dec examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2019 Dec examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2019 Dec examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 3 hours · Total marks 80 · 20 questions answered
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q1
Unit I
(a)Define tort. Explain damnum sine injuria with appropriate cases.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: Part A: the statutory definition of tort (s. 2(m), Limitation Act 1963) and the definitions of Salmond and Winfield; the elements a tort needs (Jay Laxmi Salt Works). Part B: the meaning of damnum sine injuria; why the law refuses a remedy for loss alone; cases on competition (Gloucester Grammar School, Mogul Steamship), the use of one's own land (Acton v. Blundell), a lawful act done with a bad motive (Allen v. Flood), unlawful buildings (Town Area Committee v. Prabhu Dayal) and hurt feelings (Ushaben); a conclusion.
Part A: What a tort is
The statutory definition. Indian law has one statutory definition. Section 2(m) of the Limitation Act 1963 defines it. A tort means "a civil wrong which is not exclusively the breach of a contract or the breach of a trust". It tells us two things. A tort is a civil wrong, remedied by the injured person's own action, not by punishment. And it is defined by exclusion: a wrong that is only a breach of contract or of trust is not a tort.
The word "exclusively" matters. One set of facts can be both a breach of contract and a tort. A surgeon who operates carelessly breaks his contract with the patient and also commits the tort of negligence.
The classical definitions.
- Salmond described a tort as a civil wrong for which the remedy is a common law action for unliquidated damages. It must not be exclusively a breach of contract, trust or other merely equitable obligation. Unliquidated damages are a sum the court fixes for itself.
- Winfield described tortious liability as arising from the breach of a duty primarily fixed by law. The duty is owed to persons generally, and its breach is redressible by an action for unliquidated damages.
The elements. In Jay Laxmi Salt Works (P) Ltd v. State of Gujarat, (1994) 4 SCC 1, the Supreme Court explained the difference from contract. A tortious duty is fixed by law and owed to persons generally. A contractual duty is fixed by the parties and owed to particular persons. So a tort needs:
- a wrongful act or omission by the defendant;
- legal damage, that is, the violation of a legal right of the plaintiff; and
- a legal remedy, usually unliquidated damages.
Part B: Damnum sine injuria
Meaning. Damnum means actual harm or loss. Injuria means the violation of a legal right. Damnum sine injuria is loss without the violation of a legal right. However heavy the loss, there is no tort and no claim.
Why the law refuses a remedy. People cause each other loss all the time by lawful acts. A new shop takes customers from an old one. A landowner digs a well and his neighbour's well runs dry. If every such loss were actionable, competition and the ordinary use of property would become impossible. So the law protects only rights, not every interest a person has.
The cases
1. A rival school. In the Gloucester Grammar School case (1410), as cited by the Karnataka High Court, a schoolmaster opened a school next to the plaintiff's school. Pupils moved across, and the plaintiff's fees fell sharply. No action lay, because competition violates no legal right.
2. A price war among shipowners. In Mogul Steamship Co. v. McGregor, Gow & Co., [1892] AC 25, shipowners in the China tea trade combined to cut freight rates and give rebates, to drive a rival out. The rival lost heavily. The House of Lords held that competition, however fierce, gives no claim without dishonesty, intimidation or other illegality.
3. A neighbour's well runs dry. In Acton v. Blundell, (1843) 12 M & W 324, the defendant sank a coal pit on his own land, properly and without malice. The plaintiff's well ran dry as a result. No action lay. A landowner may use his land lawfully even if it drains water from beneath his neighbour's.
4. A lawful act with a bad motive. In Allen v. Flood, [1898] AC 1, a union official told an employer that his members would stop work unless two workmen were dismissed. The workmen were employed from day to day, and the employer lawfully dismissed them. The House of Lords held that no action lay against the official. No unlawful act had been procured, and malice does not turn a lawful act into a wrong.
5. Shops built without sanction. In Town Area Committee v. Prabhu Dayal, AIR 1975 All 132, the plaintiff built sixteen shops without the sanction the law required. After notices, the Committee pulled them down. The Allahabad High Court dismissed his suit. There is no legal right to enjoy a building put up unlawfully, so he suffered damage but no legal injury.
6. Hurt feelings. In Ushaben v. Bhagyalaxmi Chitra Mandir, AIR 1978 Guj 13, devotees sought an injunction against the screening of a film that, they said, hurt their religious feelings. The Gujarat High Court refused. Hurt feelings, without any loss the law recognises, are not the violation of a legal right.
The lesson of the cases
In each case the plaintiff really suffered: lost fees, lost trade, a dry well, a lost job, demolished shops or wounded feelings. Each failed for the same reason. The defendant did something the law allowed him to do, so no right of the plaintiff was violated. The opposite maxim, injuria sine damno, covers the reverse case, where a right is violated without loss, and that is actionable.
Conclusion. A tort is a civil wrong, other than a mere breach of contract or trust, as section 2(m) of the Limitation Act 1963 provides. It arises from a duty fixed by law and is remedied by unliquidated damages. Its core is the violation of a legal right. That is why damnum sine injuria, loss without such a violation, is not actionable, however heavy the loss. Lawful competition, the lawful use of land, lawful acts with bad motives and the removal of unlawful buildings all cause loss without legal injury. The Gloucester Grammar School case, Mogul, Acton v. Blundell, Allen v. Flood and Prabhu Dayal so hold.
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