Syllabus LC 0604 Tort and Consumer Protection Law

 

Module 01	Introduction and Principles of Liability in Tort : 1.     Development of tort actions in England and India 2.     Meaning and definition of tort 3.     Tort distinguished from contract, quasi-contract and crime 4.     Constituents of tort – wrongful act, damage and remedy 5.     Malfeasance, misfeasance and non-feasance
Module 02	Liability for the Wrong Committed : 1.     Strict liability, absolute liability, no-fault liability; exceptions to these 2.     Principle of vicarious liability - nature, scope and justification 3.     Doctrine of sovereign immunity 4.     Joint tort-feasors, joint and several liability
Module 03	General Defences / Justifications in an action  for Tort : 1.     Volenti non fit injuria, consent, voluntary assumption of risk, exclusion clauses 2.     Vis major (act of God) 3.     Inevitable accident 4.     Act of third parties 5.     Novus actus interveniens 6.     Plaintiff’s wrong or default 7.     Self-defence and defence of property 8.     Necessity 9.     Statutory authority 10.  Judicial and quasi-judicial acts 11.  Parental and quasi-parental authorities 12.  Illegality 13.  Mistake
Module 04	Torts against Persons :  1.     Assault, Battery, Mayhem 2.     Causing Emotional Distress 3.     Malicious Prosecution and abuse of legal proceedings; False Imprisonment 4.     Deceit and Conspiracy 5.     Particular defences available in each of these types
Module 05	Torts against Reputation : 1.     Defamation : Libel and slander; Freedom of speech and expression; Defamation in the civil and criminal law;   Different branches of Defamation Libel, Slander;   Cyber Defamation : Defamation in cyber space 2.     Defences to defamation 3.     Invasion of privacy and defences
Module 06	Torts against Property :   1.     Trespass to land 2.     Trespass to personal property 3.     Detention and conversion 4.     Passing off; Injury to trademark, patent and copyrights 5.     Public and private nuisance 6.     Particular defences available in each of these types
Module 07	Unintentional Torts : 1.     Product Liability and defences  2.     Negligence : Duty to take care and its breach;  Foreseeability, causation; Contributory negligence and other defences to negligence;  Occupier’s liability; res ipsa loquitur 3.     Liability of driver and owner under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 for motor accidents : Liability on fault basis (negligence), no-fault basis (Section 140144), structured formula basis (Section 163A, 163B and Schedule), compensation in hit-and-run cases (Section 161 and 163), Powers and jurisdiction of a Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Introduction only to the scheme of compulsory insurance under the Act (Sections 2 (30), 145(b), 146 (1) and (2), 147(1)(i) and (2),  149, 151(1), 158(1), 160, 196)
Module 08	Remedies in Tort law : 1.     Judicial remedies:  a)     Damages : Types - General and special, nominal, contemptuous, aggravated, exemplary, Compensatory damages - Principles of causation, foreseeability, certainty, assessment and calculation of damages - principles, personal injuries, death, loss of property, economic and non-economic losses b)    Injunction - permanent and temporary, qua timet action c)     Replevin d)    Ejectment 2.     Extra - judicial remedies - Self-defence,  reentry on land, recapture of goods, abatement, distress damage feasant
Module 09	Consumer Protection Law : 1.     Origin and development of consumer law 2.     Basic Concepts - Consumer, complaint, complainant, service, goods, defect, deficiency, trader, consumer dispute, restrictive trade practice, unfair trade practice 3.     Authorities under the Act - Consumer Councils, Redressal agencies and their composition and jurisdiction - substantive, territorial and pecuniary; Appeals, Additional remedy 4.     Remedies available under the Act 5.     Procedure for filing a complaint and of the redressal agency, Limitation; Enforcement of orders, vexatious complaints

 

Recommended Readings:

1.     Ramaswamy Iyers’s The Law of Torts, Lakshminath ed, 10^th ed, 2007, LexisNexis.

2.     Avatar Singh, Introduction to the Law of Torts, 2^nd ed., Delhi Law House.

3.     Ratanlal and Dhirajlal, The Law of Torts, Akshay Sapre ed., 27^th ed., 2016, LexisNexis.

4.     P.S. Achuthan Pillai, The Law of Tort, Abhinandan Malik ed., 9^th ed (reprint 2017), Eastern Book Company.

5.     B M Gandhi, Law of Torts, 4^th ed (rep 2016), Eastern Book Company.

6.     Sathya Narayan, Tort Law in India, Wolters Kluwer, Netherland, 2013.

7.     Wienfield and Jolowicz on Tort, W V H Rogers ed, 18^th ed, 2010, Sweet and Maxwell.

8.     Salmond and Heuston on the Law of Torts, R F V Heuston and R A Buckley Eds, 21^st ed, Sweet and Maxwell.

9.     Tony Weir, An Introduction to Tort Law, 2^nd ed, 2006, Oxford University Press.

10.  John Murphy, Street on Torts, Eleventh Edi Oxford University Press 2006.

11.  Avtar Singh and Harpreet Kaur, Introduction to the Law of Torts and Consumer Protection, 3^rd ed, 2013, LexisNexis.

12.  Garima Tiwari, Understanding Laws – Consumer Rights 2014, LexisNexis.

13.  Anirban Chakraborty, Law of Consumer Protection – Advocacy and Practice, 2014, LexisNexis.

14.  Claire Andrews, Enforcement of Consumer Rights and Protections, 2016, LexisNexis.

Avtar Singh, Consumer Protection: Law and Practice, 5^th ed, 2015, Eastern Book Co.