Court caseAIR 1959 MP 240

The defendant ran a flour mill, worked by an engine, close to the plaintiff's residence. The noise of the mill, running for long hours, disturbed the plaintiff and his household, interfered with their rest and comfort and affected the plaintiff's health. The plaintiff sued for an injunction and damages, claiming that the mill was a private nuisance. The defendant contended that he was carrying on a lawful trade on his own premises and that noise alone, without any damage to property, could not found an action. The question was whether noise which interferes with personal comfort and health is actionable as a private nuisance.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court held that the noise of the flour mill constituted an actionable private nuisance. Noise need not cause injury to property; a noise which materially interferes with the ordinary comfort of the occupiers of a dwelling, judged by the standards of ordinary reasonable people in the locality, and which injures their health, is actionable. That the mill was a lawful business did not entitle the defendant to carry it on so as to cause such interference. Relief was granted to the plaintiff.