Nuisance: public and private
LUG-101 Law of Torts including Motor Vehicle Accident and Consumer Protection Act, Unit III: Nuisance. · LLB · 60 min
Nuisance protects the use and enjoyment of land against smoke, noise, smells, vibration and obstruction, and protects the public against common annoyances. This lecture defines nuisance (Stephen, Winfield, Salmond), distinguishes it from trespass, explains public nuisance (s. 270 BNS, s. 152 BNSS, s. 91 CPC, the requirement of special damage for a private action, and Municipal Council, Ratlam v. Vardhichand) and the essentials of private nuisance (unreasonable interference with the use or enjoyment of land, and damage), with the leading English and Indian cases on injury to property and to comfort, the role of locality, sensitivity and malice, the defences that work and those that do not (coming to the nuisance, Sturges v. Bridgman), and the remedies of abatement, damages and injunction. It answers the past questions on the meaning and elements of nuisance (2017-18, 2024-25) and on private nuisance and its distinction from public nuisance (2022-23, 2023-24).
Objectives
- Define nuisance and distinguish it from trespass to land.
- Explain public nuisance, its criminal and civil remedies, and when a private person may sue for it.
- State and illustrate the essentials of private nuisance: unreasonable interference, with the use or enjoyment of land, causing damage.
- Apply the factors of reasonableness: locality, duration, sensitivity of the plaintiff and malice of the defendant.
- Distinguish the valid defences (prescription, statutory authority) from the invalid ones (coming to the nuisance, public benefit, reasonable care).
- Explain the remedies of abatement, damages and injunction, and the use of nuisance law to protect the environment in India.
Slides
- Meaning of nuisance; nuisance and trespass
- Public and private nuisance distinguished
- Public nuisance: the statute and the remedies
- Municipal Council, Ratlam v. Vardhichand (1980)
- Private nuisance: the essentials
- Injury to property: St Helen's Smelting Co. v. Tipping (1865)
- Injury to comfort and health: the Indian cases
- Reasonableness: locality, sensitivity and malice
- Defences that do not work
- Valid defences and the remedies
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