CLAT PG Law Of Torts And Consumer Protection Flashcards

24 sample cards from the Law Of Torts And Consumer Protection deck

Sampled from the end of the deck, so these are different cards from the ones shown on the syllabus page.

1. What are the exceptional cases of slander actionable per se (without proof of special damage)?

   (1) Imputation of a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment; (2) imputation of a contagious/infectious disease; (3) imputation of unchastity or adultery to a woman; (4) imputation affecting a person's professional/business reputation or office.

2. What are the main defences to an action for defamation?

   (1) Justification/truth (the statement is true in substance); (2) fair comment on a matter of public interest; (3) privilege — absolute (e.g. parliamentary, judicial proceedings) or qualified (made in good faith on a privileged occasion without malice).

3. What is the difference between absolute and qualified privilege in defamation?

   Absolute privilege gives complete immunity regardless of malice (e.g. parliamentary and judicial statements). Qualified privilege protects statements made in good faith on a privileged occasion (duty/interest) but is defeated by proof of actual malice.

4. What is 'trespass to land' and is actual damage required?

   Trespass to land is unjustifiable physical interference with land in the possession of another — by entering, remaining, or placing/throwing objects on it. It is actionable per se; no proof of actual damage is required.

5. Define 'false imprisonment' and its essentials.

   False imprisonment is the total restraint of a person's liberty, without lawful justification, for any period however short. Essentials: (1) total restraint of liberty; (2) without lawful justification. Knowledge of the plaintiff is not essential.

6. Distinguish 'trespass to person' types: assault and battery.

   Assault is an act causing reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful/offensive contact (no contact needed). Battery is the actual intentional application of force to another person without lawful justification (contact occurs).

7. State the rule in Rylands v Fletcher and the case facts.

   A person who, for his own purposes, brings onto his land and keeps anything likely to do mischief if it escapes, keeps it at his peril; if it escapes he is prima facie liable for all resulting damage, even without negligence. Facts: water from a reservoir on the defendant's land escaped through old shafts and flooded the plaintiff's mine.

8. What are the essential ingredients of the rule in Rylands v Fletcher?

   (1) A dangerous thing brought onto land; (2) 'non-natural use' of land; (3) escape of the thing from the defendant's land to outside his control; and (4) resulting damage. Liability is strict (without proof of negligence).

9. What are the exceptions/defences to the rule in Rylands v Fletcher?

   (1) Plaintiff's own default; (2) Act of God; (3) consent of the plaintiff; (4) act of a third party/stranger; (5) statutory authority; and (6) natural use of land (the thing escaped through natural use).

10. What is the rule of 'absolute liability' and which case laid it down in India?

    Laid down in M.C. Mehta v Union of India (Oleum Gas Leak case, 1987). An enterprise engaged in a hazardous/inherently dangerous activity is absolutely liable to compensate for harm caused, with NO exceptions (unlike Rylands v Fletcher). Escape and non-natural use are not required.

11. How does 'absolute liability' (M.C. Mehta) differ from 'strict liability' (Rylands v Fletcher)?

    Strict liability allows several exceptions (Act of God, stranger's act, etc.) and requires escape/non-natural use. Absolute liability has NO exceptions, does not require escape, applies to hazardous enterprises, and compensation may be correlated to the enterprise's capacity (deterrent measure).

12. What is the concept of 'vicarious liability of the State' and the relevant Article distinction?

    The State is liable in tort for acts of its servants. The key distinction is between sovereign functions (traditionally immune) and non-sovereign/commercial functions (liable). Article 300 of the Constitution governs suits by/against the Union and States.

13. Contrast the holdings in P&O Steam Navigation Co. and Kasturilal regarding State liability.

    In P&O Steam Navigation Co. v Secretary of State, the State was held liable for negligence in a non-sovereign function. In Kasturilal v State of UP, the State escaped liability because the wrongful act (police negligence) was held to be in exercise of a sovereign function (immunity).

14. How has State liability evolved beyond Kasturilal (later cases)?

    Later decisions (e.g. Rudal Shah, Nilabati Behera, N. Nagendra Rao) narrowed sovereign immunity, holding the State liable to pay compensation for violation of fundamental rights (esp. Article 21) and restricting 'sovereign function' to a narrow core, treating most functions as non-sovereign.

15. What is the definition of a 'consumer' under Section 2(7) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019?

    A consumer is a person who buys any goods or hires/avails any service for consideration (paid, promised, or partly paid/promised), including any beneficiary using it with approval, but EXCLUDING a person who obtains goods for resale or any commercial purpose (commercial purpose excludes use for self-employment/livelihood). It expressly includes online/electronic transactions.

16. What new consumer protection authority did the 2019 Act establish and its main role?

    The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), to regulate matters relating to violation of consumer rights, unfair trade practices, and false/misleading advertisements, and to protect the rights of consumers as a class (it can investigate, recall goods, impose penalties, and order discontinuance of misleading ads).

17. What is the three-tier Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission structure and the pecuniary limits under the 2019 Act?

    District Commission: complaints up to Rs. 50 lakh; State Commission: above Rs. 50 lakh up to Rs. 2 crore (plus appeals from District); National Commission (NCDRC): above Rs. 2 crore (plus appeals from State). [As per the original 2019 thresholds.]

18. Define 'unfair trade practice' under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 (concept).

    A trade practice that, for promoting the sale, use or supply of goods/services, adopts unfair or deceptive methods — e.g. false representation about quality/standard, misleading advertisements, false warranties, bargain-price deception, hoarding/destruction of goods, and not issuing a bill/receipt or cash memo as required.

19. What is 'product liability' as introduced by the Consumer Protection Act, 2019?

    Product liability (a new concept under Chapter VI) is the responsibility of a product manufacturer, product seller, or product service provider to compensate a consumer for harm caused by a defective product or deficient service. A product liability action can be based on manufacturing defect, design defect, deviation from specifications, failure to warn, or non-conformance to express warranty.

20. What is 'mediation' under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019?

    The 2019 Act introduced mediation as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism (Chapter V). Where elements of settlement exist, the Commission may refer the dispute to a Consumer Mediation Cell attached to it, enabling speedy, amicable settlement without a full adjudication.

21. What are the kinds of damages awarded in tort?

    (1) Nominal damages (right violated but no real loss); (2) contemptuous/derisory damages (trifling sum showing the claim, though valid, was undeserving); (3) compensatory/ordinary damages (actual loss); (4) exemplary/punitive/vindictive damages (to punish and deter, beyond compensation).

22. What is the difference between general damages and special damages?

    General damages are those presumed by law to flow naturally from the wrong and need not be specifically pleaded/proved (e.g. pain and suffering). Special damages are actual, quantifiable losses that must be specifically pleaded and proved (e.g. medical bills, loss of earnings).

23. What is the rule on 'remoteness of damage' and the leading test?

    A defendant is liable only for consequences that are not too remote. The modern test is reasonable foreseeability laid down in 'The Wagon Mound' (foreseeability of the kind of damage), which replaced the older 'directness' test of In re Polemis.

24. What is the maxim 'in pari delicto potior est conditio defendentis' in tort?

    'Where both parties are equally at fault, the position of the defendant is stronger.' Where the plaintiff is himself a wrongdoer, he may be barred from recovering, though it is not an absolute rule — recovery may still be allowed if the wrong is not connected with the claim.

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