tort

The word comes from the French for “wrong” (Latin tortum, twisted). Salmond describes a tort as a civil wrong for which the remedy is a common law action for unliquidated damages, and which is not exclusively a breach of contract, breach of trust or other merely equitable obligation. Its essentials are a wrongful act or omission, legal damage (infringement of a legal right), and a remedy in damages.

India has no general code of torts; Indian courts apply English common law principles as modified by justice, equity and good conscience, and have developed their own rules such as absolute liability and constitutional tort. A tort differs from a crime, which is a public wrong punished by the State, though the same act (such as assault or defamation) can be both.

Example

Since the doctor's negligence infringed the patient's legal right and caused damage, it was a tort actionable in damages.

See also

negligence · injuria sine damno · damnum sine injuria · constitutional tort

Read more in the study notes

• Administrative law: meaning, nature, scope, growth and sources (Administrative Law)
• Rule of law and droit administratif (Administrative Law)
• Judicial control: public and private law remedies, writ procedure and ouster clauses (Administrative Law)
• Government contracts and state liability: the administrative-law angle (Administrative Law)
• Public corporations and public undertakings: status, classification, liability and control (Administrative Law)
• Corruption, maladministration and the ombudsman: Lokpal and Lokayukta (Administrative Law)