occupier's liability
Occupier's liability is the liability of a person who controls premises (the occupier, who need not be the owner) for injury to persons coming on them. At common law the duty depends on the entrant's status: the highest to contractual entrants, then invitees (who come on business of common interest), then licensees (who come with permission), and the least to trespassers, who are protected only against deliberate or reckless harm.
England replaced these categories with the Occupiers' Liability Acts, 1957 and 1984. India has no statute, so courts apply common law principles of negligence; a stricter duty is applied towards children because of their attraction to dangerous things.
Example
The cinema owner was liable under occupier's liability when a loose ceiling panel fell on a ticket-holder.
In Indian law
- Occupiers' Liability Acts, 1957 and 1984 (England)