Introduction to the Law of Torts

The word tort is of French origin and is equivalent of the English word wrong. It is derived from the Latin word tortum, which means twisted or crooked. It implies conduct that is twisted or crooked. Tort is commonly used to mean a breach of duty amounting to a civil wrong.

Salmond defines tort as a civil wrong for which the remedy is a
common law action for unliquidated damages and which is not exclusively the
breach of a contract or the breach of a trust or other merely equitable
obligation.

A tort arises due to a person’s duty to others which is created by one law or the other. A person who commits a tort is known as a tortfeaser, or a wrongdoer. Where they are more than one, they are called joint tortfeaser. Their wrongdoing is called tortuous act and they are liable to be sued jointly and severally.

The principle aim of the Law of tort is compensation for victims or their
dependants. Grants of exemplary damages in certain cases will show that
deterrence of wrong doers is also another aim of the law of tort.
Evolution of Law of Torts in India

The law of torts in India is mainly the English law of torts which is based on the principles of the ‘common law’. This was made suitable to the Indian conditions in accordance with the principles of justice, equity and good conscience. However, the application of tort laws in India is not a very regular event and one can even go to the extent of commenting that tort as a law in India is far from being looked upon as a major branch of law and litigation. In the Indian legal system, the concept of ‘punishment’ occupies a more prominent place than ‘compensation’ for wrongs.

It has been argued that the development of law of tort in India 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.”