nuisance

In tort, nuisance is of two kinds. Private nuisance is an unlawful interference with a person's use or enjoyment of land or of some right over it, such as smoke, noise, smells or vibration; the test is whether the interference is unreasonable by the standards of ordinary people in that locality. Public nuisance is an act that causes common injury, danger or annoyance to the public; an individual can sue for it only if he suffers special damage beyond that of the public.

Public nuisance is also an offence under the BNS, and a magistrate may make a conditional order to remove it. Suits about public nuisance may be filed under s.91 CPC.

Example

The magistrate ordered the municipality to stop the open drains, as the stench was a public nuisance affecting the whole locality.

In Indian law

• Section 270, BNS (old s.268 IPC); s.152, BNSS (old s.133 CrPC)
• Municipal Council, Ratlam v. Vardhichand, 1980 INSC 138
• Section 91, Code of Civil Procedure, 1908

See also

public nuisance · private nuisance · sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas

Read more in the study notes

• Public nuisance, mischief and criminal trespass (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)
• Preventive action of the police (Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita)
• Irregular proceedings (Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita)
• General exceptions: consent, good faith, compulsion and trifles (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)
• Suits by or against Government and public officers, aliens and foreign States, and suits on public matters (Civil Procedure Code and Limitation Act)
• Injunctions: temporary, perpetual and mandatory (Contract I)