Holding

The Supreme Court held that the municipal corporation was not liable because the statutory duty did not confer a private right of action and the requisite duty of care, proximity, and foreseeability were not established.

Summary

The deceased Jayantilal was killed when a roadside tree, planted by the Rajkot Municipal Corporation, fell on him while he was walking on a footpath. His widow and children sued the corporation for damages, alleging negligence in failing to maintain the tree in a safe condition. The trial court and the Gujarat High Court held the corporation liable, interpreting Section 66 of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation Act, 1949 as imposing an absolute statutory duty to maintain trees. On appeal, the Supreme Court examined whether a private right of action arose from the statutory duty, and whether the elements of negligence—duty of care, breach, causation, and foreseeability—were satisfied. It concluded that the statute did not create a private cause of action, that there was no sufficient proximity or foreseeability to impose a duty of care, and that the corporation could not be held liable for the accidental fall of the tree. Consequently, the appeal was allowed and the lower courts' decrees were set aside.

Issues considered

The corporation owed a statutory duty to maintain roadside trees under the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation Act, 1949.
Whether breach of that statutory duty gives rise to a private right of action for damages in tort.
Whether the elements of negligence—duty of care, breach, causation, and foreseeability—are established in the facts.
Whether a proximate relationship existed between the deceased and the municipal corporation.

Legislation cited

Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation Act, 1949s. 202, s. 66
Code of Civil Procedure, 1908s. 192

Subjects

negligencestatutory dutypublic authorityduty of careproximate relationshipforeseeabilitymunicipal corporationtree falltort liabilityprivate right of action

Judgment

A RAJKOT MUNICIPAL CORPORATION
v.
MANJULBEN JAYANTILAL NAKUM AND ORS.

JANUARY 17, 1997

B [K. RAMASWAMY.AND G.B. PAITANAIK, JJ.)

Torts:

Negligence-Breach of duty-Carelessljr-By Public Authority-
C Damages fo~iability-Arising of-Factors to be considered-Deceased
while walking on footpath of a public road was struck by a roadside tree,
which suddenly fell on him in still weather condition resulting in his
death-Suit ftled by deceased's wife and children claiming damages from
Municipal Corporation on ground of negligence in not properly maintaining
roadside trees-Held: Proximity of relationship between person who suffered
D damages and the wrong doer, foreseeability of danger and duty of care owed
by public authority must be established--Burden ofproof on plaintiff-Plain·
tiff could not succeed by merely establishing occwrence of accident due to
negligence i.e. ~efendant's failure to take reasonable care as ordinal)' prudent
matt-Foreseeability of damage or danger to person or property must be
E ~a-related to public duty of care-Duty of care should be to avoid causing of
present or imminent danger created by positive act ofpublic authority-Harm
complained of must be of the kind contemplated by statute-Action for
damages would not lie if statute did not intend to guard the kind of damage
suffered or if some other remedy was available or provided by statute-in the
circumstances of the case, Corporation not liable for damages-Proximity of
F relationship and foreseeability of danger not fountl-Corporation could not
be expected to have a duty to maintain constant supervision by testing the
healthy condition of the tree.~Special circumstances to be taken into account
stated-Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation Act, 1949.

G Negligence-StatutOTy Corporation or public authority-Municipal Cor-
poration-Principle of law of negligence-Applicability of-Held: Situations
different when act was one of commission and one of omission-Act would
110t be negligent, if it was done in good faith in the exercise of, and within the

limits of, the discretion.

H Negligence-Before the repository of statutory power could be made
304
RAJKOT MUNICIPAL CORPN. v. MANJULBEN JAYANTILAL 305
·· ~ ...,
liable for negligence for a failure to exercise it, the statute must impose a A
statutory duty and confer a private right of action in damages for breach
thereof-But common law duty must not be superimposed through process of
statutory interpretation-Duty of care when arose, discusse~ereseeability
as test-Imminent danger theory-The duty of care should not'impose an
intolerable burden on the public authority and prevent it from peifomting its
,... nonnal duties.
B
,.
~
Negligence--Misfeasance and non-feasance-Distinction be!ween-Ex-
plained.

Damages-Tortious liability-Held: In absence of statutory law in this
regard, common law principles evolved in Engla11d might be applied in India
c
to the extent of suitability and applicability to Indian conditions.

Statutory Corporation~unicipal Corporation-Held; could be held
liable and be sued for wrongs involving fraud, malice as well as for wrong in
which intention was immaterial. D
· "r
Tort and contract-Distinction betweert-Explained.

Interpretation of Statutes:

Legislative intent-Detennination oj-:£xplained. E
Wordf and Phrases: "Misfeasance and non-feasance'~ "Negligence" and
"duty''-Meaning oHn tlte context of Law of Torts.

Legal Maxims : "volenti non fit injuria" and "novus actus interveniens'
-Applicability of F
The deceased was· walking on footpath of a public r oad on the way
to his office, when a roadside tree, which was in a still cundition, ha d
suddenly fallen on him, as a result of which he susta ined injuries on his
head and other parts of the body and later died in the hospital. The
respondents, being the deceased's widow. and children, ftl ed a suit for G
damages in a sum of Rs.llakh from the appellant-Corporation. The trial
--":" ..... Court decreed the suit for a sum of Rs.45,000 finding that the appellant
had failed in its statutory duty to check the healthy condition of trees and
to protect the deceased from the tree falling on him resulting in his death:
On appeal, the Division Bench had held that the appellant ha d statutory H
306 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997] 1 S.C.R.
A duty to plant trees on the roadsides as also the corresponding duty to
maintain the trees in proper condition. The statutory duty gave rise to
tortious liability on the State and as its agent, the appellant-Corporation
.being a statutory authority was guilty of negligence on its part in not taking
care to protect the life of the deceased. The respondents 'could not be called ,
B upon to prove that the tree had fallen due to the appellant's negligence.
Statutory obligation to maintain trees being absolute, and since the tree
had fallen due to its decay, the appellant had failed to prove that the
occurrence had taken place without negligence on its part. The appellant
failed to make periodical inspection whether the trees were in good and
healthy condition subjecting them to seasonal and periodical treatment
C and examination. Therefore, the appellant had not taken care to foresee
the risk of the tree's faJiing and causing damage to the passers-by. Thus
the appellant was liable to pay damages for the death of tbe deceased. The
Divisi~n Bench accordingly confirmed the decree of the trial Court. Hence
this appeal.
D
Allowing the appeal, this Court

HELD: 1.1. Negligence is failure to use such care as a reasonable,
prudent and careful person would use, under similar circumstances. It is
E the doing of-some act which a person of ordinary prudence would not have
done under similar circumstances or failure to do what a person of ordi-
nary prudence would have done under similar circumstances. Negligence
also is an omission to do something which a reasonable man; guided by
those ordinary considerations which ordinarily regulate human affairs,
would do, or the doing of something, which a reasonable and prudent man
F would not do. Negligence would include both acts and omissions involving
unreasonable risk of having done harm to another. The breach of duty must
cause damage. How much of the damage to be compensated by the defen·
dant should be attributed to; his wilful conduct and how much to his wilful
negligence or careless conduct or remissness in performance of duty, are
G all relevant facts to be considered in a given act or omission in adjudging
duty of care. The element of carelessness or the breach of duty and whether
that duty is towards the plain tilT or class of persons to which the plaintiff
belongs are important components in tort of negligence. Negligence would,
tlterefore, mean careless conduct in commission or omission of an act,
H whereby another to whom the plaintiff owed duty of care has suffered
RAJKOTMUNTCIPALCORPN. v. MANJULBENJAYANTILAL 307
"'Y damage. The duty of care is crucial in understanding the nature and scope A
of tort of negligence. [326E-F; 328-E-F; 327-C-D]

Black's Law Dictionary (6 th. Edn.), p. 1489, referred to.

1.2. Negligence connotes inadvertence to the consequences of his
conduct which can be a measure of behaviour where one person had been B
careless in that he did not behave as a prudent man would have done
)
~
whether by advertance or othenvise. The tort of negligence always requires
some form of careless conduct which is usually, although not necessarily,
the product of inadvertenc~. Not every careless conduct which causes
damage, however, will give rise to an action in tort. The negligence lies in
failure to take such steps as a reasonable prudent man would have taken
c
in the given circumstances. ~at constitute carelessness are the conduct
and not the result of inadvertence. Thus negligence in this sense is a
ground for liability in tort. [329-E-G]

1.3. Th~ defendant must be under duty of care not to create latent D
..,.
course of physical danger/damage to the person or property of third party
whom he ought to have reasonably foreseen as likely to be affected thereby.
...;
Those latent defects cause physical danger to the person or the property
giving cause of action and the defendant then is liable to pay damage for
tortious liability. It must, therefore, be the essential element to establish
E
that there is positive act or duty and the defendant is under that duty. The
Court is not to create, by process of interpretation, latent source of
physical danger to the person or property of third party when the Act does
not envisage that the defendant ought to have reasonably foreseen hi_m as
~
likely to be affected thereby. [327-G-H; 328-A)
F
1.4. In every cas~ giving rise to tortious liability, tort consists of
in.jury and damage due to negligence. Claim for injury and damage may
be founded on breach of contract or tort. The liability in tort may be strict
liability, absolute liability or special liability. The degree of liability
depends on degree of mental element. The elements of tort of ~egligence
consist in • (a) duty of care; (b) duty is owed to the plaintiff; (c) the duty G
has been carelessly breached. Negligence does not entail liability unless the
-J
law exacts a duty in the given circumstances to observe care. Duty is an
obligation recognised by law to avoid conduct fraugbt with unreasonable
risk or damage to others. The question whet"er duty exists in a par-ticular
situation involves determination of law. [326-H; 327-A; 328-C-D] H
308 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997] 1 S.C.R.
A 1.5. The Court requires to examine the scope of duty of care, which
the local authority owes to the plaintiff. The Court is rec1uired to cons~r
the object, scope and breach of the Act, viz. the Bombay Provincial
Municipal Corporation Act, 1949. Though the statute Is of general char-
acter, since the Government or local authority is entrusted with the duty
B to implement the law, though at its discretion, and if damage is done in
execution thereof, what requires to be examined is whether the aforestated
elements of tort of negligence stand attracted. The Court is further re·
quired to consider whether extension of duty of care by the process of
Interpretation would elongate the public policy or retard its object or
frustrate public policy b~hind the statute and the inevitable effect thereof
C on the affected plaintiff as well as the general public. No general principle.
of law is desirable to be laid down as an acid test. [329-A-C]

Donoghue v. Stevenson, (1932) AC 562, referred to.

D 2.1. While considering whether an action would lie for breach of
statutory duty, what requires to be established, among other things, is that
the harm complained of is of the kind contemplated by the statute. The
question emerges: as to when would the breach of statutory duty under a
particular enactment give rise to tortious liability? The s tatutory
negligence is sui generis and independent of any other form of tortious
E liability. It would, therefore, be of necessity to find out from the construe·
tion of each statutory duty whether the particular duty is general duty in
public Jaw or private law duty towards the plaintiff. The plaintiff must
show that (a) the injury suffer·ed is within the ambit of statute: (b)
statutory duty imposes a liability for civil action: (c) the statutory duty was
F not fulfilled: and (d) the breach of duty lias caused him injury. These
essentials are required to be considered in each case. The action for breach
of statutory duty may belong to the category of either strict or absolute
liability which is required, therefore, to be considered ·in the nature of
s tatutory duty the defendant owes to the plaintiff; whether or not the duty
G is absolute; and the public policy underlying the duty. In mos t cases, the
statute may not give rise to cause of action unless it is breached and it has
caused damage to the plaintiff, though occasionally the statute may make
breach of duty actionable per se. The burden, therefore, is on the plaintiff
to prove on balance of probabilities that the defendant owes that duty of
care to the plaintiff or class of persons to whom he belongs, that defendant
H was negligent in the performance or omission of that duty and breach of
RAJKOTMUNICIPALCORPN.v. MANJULBENJAYANTILAL 309

duty caused or materially contributed to his injury and that duty of care A
is owed on the defendant. If the statute requires certain protection on the
principle of volenti non fit injuria, the liability stands excluded. The breach
of duty created by a statute, if it results in damage in an individual_prima
facie, is tort for which the action for damage will lie in the suit. One would
often take the Act, as a whole, to find out the object of the law and to find B
out whether one has right and remedy provided for breach of duty. It wol!ld,
therefore, be of necessity in every caseto find the intention of legislature in
•' ) creating duty and the resultant cons~quences suffered from the action or
omission thereof, which are required to be considered. No action for
damages lies if on proper construction of statute, the intention is that some
other remedy is avdilable. One of the tests in determining the intention of C
the statute is to ascertain whether the duty is owed primarily to tbe general
public or community and only incidentally to an individual or primarily to
the individual or class of individuals and only incidentally to the general
public or the community. If the statute aims at duty to protect a particular
citiuD or particular class of citizens to which the plaintiff belongs, it prima D
facie creates at the same time co-relative right vested in those citizens of
which plaintiff is one; he has remedy for enforcement, namely, the action
for damages for any loss occasioned due to negligence or for failure of it.
But this test is not always conclusive. [329-C-D; 330-B-R; 331-A-B]

Gonis v. State, (1874) LR 9 Ex. 125 and Kinlgollon v. W.Cooke & Co. E
Ltd., (1956) WLR 527, referred to.

2.2. Duty may be of such paramount importance that it is owed in
all the public. It would be wrong to think that on an action, the duty could
be enforced by way of damages when duty is owed in a section or public F
and cannot be enforced if an individual sustains damages to whom the
Corporation owes no duty and no private interest Is infringed. Breach of
statutory duty, therefore, requires to be examined in the context in which
the duty is created not towards the individual, but has its effect on the
right of individual vis-a-vis the society. Statutory duty generally is toWdrds G
public at large and not towards an individual or individuals and the
co-relative right is vested in the public and not in private person, even
though they may suffer damages. The duty in such a c-dse is to be enforced
by way of criminal prosecution or by way of injunction at the suit under
Section 192 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 or with leave of Court
under Order I, Rule 8, CPC by public spirited person or in any appropriate H
310 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997] 1 S.C.R.
A manner to enforce the right and not by way of private action for damages. or
In that situation, the legislature, while recognising the private right vested
in an injured individual, may intend that it shall be maintained solely by
some special remedy provided for a particular case and not by ordinary
method of an action for damages as penalty or compensation. [331-C-F}

B 2.3. If the statute creates right and remedy, damages are recoverable
by establishing the breach of statute as the sole remedy available under
the statute. But where statute merely creates a duty without expressly
providing any remedy for breach of it, appropriate remedy, prima facie, is
punishment for misdemeanour in respect of the injury to the public and
C the action for damages in respect of any special damage suffered by an
individual. Where special remedy is e¥pressly provided prima facie that
was intended to be the only remedy and by implication it excludes the
resort to common law. But this is also by no means conclusive. The
consideration would be whether the statute intends to award damages for
D breach of statutory duty. Though general rule is that where a statute
creates an obligation and enforces performance in a specified manner,
performance cannot be enforced in any other manner. It depends on the
scope of the Act which creates the obli&ration and on consideration of the
underlying policy of the statute, effect on the individuals is to be carefully
examined and analysed as to what the statute has expressly laid down or
E probably what the statute aims to achieve. The action for damages will not
lie if the damage suffered by him is not of the type intended to be guarded
against. It seems to be contrary to statutory intendment to impose liability
upon public body for a th~ng for which no reasonable care in the perfor-
mance of the concerned act could be inferred from the language used in
F the statute; it ought not to be so construed as to innict the liability on the
public authority unless the purpose sought to be achieved has been want-
ing due to want of exercise of duty and reasonable care in tlte performance
of duty imposed by the statute. [331-F-H; 332-A-B; D-E)

3.1. Ordinarily principle of the law of negligence applies to public
G authorities als.o. They are liable to damages because by a negligent act or
failure to act when they are under duty to act or for a failure to consider
whether to exercise a power conferred on them with the intention that it
would be exercised if and when public interest requires it. Where the public
authority bas decided to exercise a power and has done it negligently a
H person, who has acted in reliance on what the public authority has done,
RAJKOTMUNICIPALCORPN. V. MANJULBEN JAYAN11LAL 311

..,.
. may have no difficulty in proving that the damages which be bas suffered A
have been caused by the negligence. Where the damage has resulted from
a negligent failure to act there may be greater difficulty in proving causa-
tion and requires examination in greater detail. The liability in tort is for
the damage done, not for damage merely foreseeable or threatened or
imminent. [335-F-G; 344-F-G)
B
3.2. The general rule is that the public authorities are liable .for
.,. positive action (misfeasance) but not for omission (non-feasance). In
considering the duty of public authority to avoid harm to those likely to
be affected by tbe .exercise of power or duty, the courts have evolved the
relationship of proximity or neighbourhood nexus, which exists between C
the person who suffered damages and wrong doer. Where there is allega·
tion of wrong doing it bas to be seen whether the latter reasonably ought
to have foreseen that the carelessness on his part, is likely to cause damage
to the other. If it is a reasonable foreseeability that carelessness on the
defend_a nt's part will cause damage to the plaintiff, then the defendant is D
plaintitl's neighbour and prima facie owes towards the plaintiff a duty of
care which may, however, be negatived on the ground of public policy or
reasonable care taken at the operational stage. [334-G-H; 335-A·B]
.(
33. The distinction between area of public policy and operational
area is a logical and convenient one. Undoubtedly, a public authority is E
liable for the negligent acts of its servants or agents in carrying out their
duties, or exercising their powers, within the operational area, although if
the performance of their duties or th~ exercise of their power involves the
exercise of discretion. An act will not be negligent, if it is done in good faith
in the exercise of, and within the limits of the· discretion. [33S.C-D] F

4.1. Statutory power is not something like statutory duty. Before the
repository of a statutory power can be made liable for negligence for a
failure to exercise it, the statute must (either expressly or by implication)
impose a duty to exercise the power and confer a private right of action in G
damages for a breach of the duty so imposed. The question whether the
Act confers a private right of action depends upon the interpretation of
·the provisions of the Act. But by process of statutory interpretation, the
c~urts may not superimpose a general Common Law duty on a statutory
authority in order to give effect to its resumed idea of policy or. duty.
Common Law does not super-impose such a duty on a mere statl,ltory H
312 .SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997] 1 S.C.R.
A authority. The nature and scope of the Common Law duty of care owed .bY
a public authority exercising statutory powers must be discerned carefully
by r eading the J.lrovisions of the Act, the objl'.ct it seeks to achieve and other
r elevant considerations. The public authority is under a duty to take some
action whdhcr or not in exercise of its s tatutory power or not to prevent
B injury only if its antecedent acts, have created or increased a risk of injury
of that kind. The normal duty of care cannot be a duty to exercise the
statutory power to prevent injury in another or otherwise to act in such a
way as to prevent injury to him unless the a uthority has itself created or
increased the risk of injury of that kind. In the absence of such a statutory
duty, a normal duty of exercise of care cannot arise unless the act actually
C done in exea·cise of a statutory power, creates or increases the risk of
foreseeable injury to another and then the duty is to do those acts with
reas onable care and to ta ke r easonable precautions .to prevent that injury
from occurring. The duty of care, therefore, must have co-relationship to
the kind of damage that the plaintiff bas suffered and not to the plaintiff .
D or a class of which the plaintiff is a member. These cases relate to private
law tort. [336-B-G; 346-A]

Oversea? Tanks/zip (U.K.) Ltd. v. Morts Docks alld Engineering Co.
Ltd., (1961) AC 388, referred to.

E 4.2. The proper approach, therefore, is to consider whether a duty of
care situation exists in public law tort which the law ought to recognise
and whdher in that situation the defendant's conduct was such that he
should have foreseen the damage that would be innicted on the plaintiff.
As a general rule of law, one man is under no duty to contr ol another so
F as to prevent·the IaUer from doing damage to a third. The first question
to be considered is: whether the pla intiff bas established neces sary
r elationship giving rise to the duty of care? The next question is whether
there is any negligence at the time when the act in question was committed?
The act complained of must have rational rela tionship to the damage
caused. The tort of negligence does not depend s imply on the question of
G foreseeability. Foreseeability is not the sole criteria nor does the fact that
the damage is foreseeable creates any onus. What the court would as k or
look at is the operational s tructure of the Act. Is this a situation where a
duty does exist towards the plaintiff or class or persons to whom he belongs
keeping in mind tbe nature of the functions a nd the interest of tbe ·
H community? The further question would be: whether the damage to the
~

RAJKOT MUNICJPAL CORPN. v. MANJULBEN JAYANTILAL 313
plaintiff is so foreseeable? In that behalf it must be further seen whether A
there was sumciently proximate relationship between the plaintiff and the
1 "' defendant. [346-A-EJ

4.3. Each case requires to be examined in the light of the special
circumstances, viz., whether the defendant owed a duty of care to the
plaintiff, whether the plaintiff is person or a class of persons to whom the
B
defendant owed a duty of care, whether the defendant was negligent in
performing that duty or omitted to take such reasonable care in the
.., performance of the duty, whether damage must have resulted from that
particular duty of care which the defendant owed to the particular plaintiff
or class of persons. Public authorities discharge public obligations to the c
public at large. Therefore, it owes duty of care at common law to avoid
causing present or imminent danger to the safety of the J'laiotiff or a class
of persons to whom the plaintiff belongs. It is a statutory duty of care
under common law which could give rise to actionable claim·in the suit of
the individual and it is capable of co-existence along side a statutory duty.
' The duty of care imposed on a local authority by law may not be put beyond D
.,... what the statute expects of the local authority or Corporation to perform
· the duty. The tort of insuperable negligence would emerge from imminent
danger created by positive act. But the duty of care imposed on local
authority by law may be gauged from the circumstances in which and the
conditions subject to which the duty of care has been imposed on the E
statutory authority. The immin.e nt danger theory must be viewed keeping
at the back of mind the act or conduct creating the .danger to the plaintiff
or the class of persons to which he belongs and that by negligent conduct
the defendant causes damage to the property or person of the plaintiff,
though the defendant is not in know of the danger. The defendant also in
,. given circumstances, must owe special responsibility or proximity impos·
F
ing foreseeable duty to care, to safeguard the plaintiff from the danger or
to prevent it from happening. [359-H; 360-A-DJ

4.4. There must exist some proximity of relationship, foreseeability
of danger and duty of care to be performed by the defendant to avoid the G
1 accident or to prevent danger to person of the deceased. The requisite
• degree of proximity requires to be established by the plaintiff in the
circumstances in whicb the plaintiff was injured. The plaintiff would not
:-·-+ succeed by establishing that the accident had occurred due to negligence,
i.e., the defendant's failure to take reasonable care as ordinary prudent H
314 SUPREME COURT REPORTS {1997] 1 S.C.R.
A Dlan, under the circumstances, would bave taken and the liability in tort
t o pay damages had arisen. If the defendant had become aware of the
decayed co~dition or that the tree was affected by disease and taken no
action to prevt:nt the accident, it would be actionable, though for non-
feasance. M ere a ppearance of danger gives rise to n o lia bility. Actual
B damage had occurred before tortious liability for negligence arose. When
the defendant is under statutory duty to take care not to create latent
source of physical danger to the property or the person who in the
circumstances is considered to be reasonably foreseeable as likely to be
a ffected thereby, the defendant would be liable for tort of negligence. If the "
latent defect causes actual physical damages to the person, _the defendant ·
C is liable to damages for tortious liability. The negligent act or omission of
the statutory authority must be examined with reference to the statutory
provisions, creating the duty and the resultant consequence. The negligent
act or omission must be specifically directed to safeguard the public or
some sections of the public to which the plaintiff was a member, from tht
D particular danger , which bas resulted. [360-G-H; 361-A-C)

S.l. The exercise of power/omissions must have been such that duty
of care bad arisen to avoid danger. Foreseeability of the danger or injury
alone is not s ufficient to conclude that duty of care exists. The fact that
one could foresee that a failure of the authority to exercise a reasonable
E care would cause loss to the passers-by itself does not mean that such a
duty of care should be imposed on the statutory a uthority. The statutory
authority exercises its public law duty or function. It would be wrong to
think that the local authority always owns responsibility and continues to
have the same state of alT.airs. It would be a n intolerable burden of 4uty
p of care on the authority; otherwise it would detract the authority from
perfonniog its normal duties. If he were to gauge the risk of litigation, he
would avoid doing public duty of planting and nurturing the trees thinking
that it would be a hea~ burden on the local authority. It would always cause
hea~ financial burden on the statutory authority. If the duty of maintaining
constant vigil or verifying or testing the healthy condition of trees at public
G places with so many other functions to be perl'ormed were cast on it, the effect
would be that the authority would omit to perform statutory duty. Duty of [
t
care, therefore, must be carefully examined and ti1e foreseeability of damage
or danger to the person or property must be co-refated to the public duty of
care to infer that the omission/non-feasance gives rise to actionable claim for
H damages agaJD$t the defendant. [361-D-G]
RAJKOT MUNICIPAL CORPN. v. MANJULBEN JAYANTILAL 315

5.2. When a person uses a road or highway, under common law one A
..... .'I' has a right to passage over the public way. When the defendant creates by
positive action any danger and no signal or warnings are given and
consequently damage is done, the proximate relationshii' gets established
between the plaintiff and the defendant and the causation is not too
remote. Eljually, when the defendant omits to perform a particular duty
B
enj?ined by the statute or does that duty carelessly, there is proximity
between the plaintiff injured person and the defendant in performance of
·:...
.,. the duty and when injury occurs or damage is suffered to person or
' property, cause of action· arises to enable the plaintiff to claim damages
from the defendant. But when the causation is too remote, it is difficult to
.l anticipate with any reasonable certainty as ordinary reasonable prudent c
man, to foresee damage or injury to the plaintiff due to causation or
omission on the part of the defendant in the performance or negligence in
the performance of the duty. [361-H; 362-A-C)

5.3. When the defendant was not in know of the discoverable defect D
or danger and it had caused the damage by accident like sudden fall of the
:>- tree, it would be difficult to visualise that the defendant had knowledge of
the danger and he had omitted to perform the duty of care to prevent its
fault. There would be no special relationship between the statutory
authority and the plaintiff who is a remote user of the footpath of the street
by the side of which the trees were planted, unless the defendant is aware E
of the condition of the tree that it is likely to fall on the footpath on which
the plaintiff/class of persons to which he belongs frequents it. The defen·
dant by his non-feasance is not responsible for the accident or cause of the
death since admittedly there was no visible sign that the tree was affected
...,. by disease. It had fallen in a still condition of weather. [360-D-F] F

· 5.4. In determining the legislative intent, the Court is required to
consider three factors, viz., the context and the o~jcct of the statute, the
nature and precise scope of the relevant provisions and the damage
suffered not of the kind to be guarded against. The object of the Act is to
promote facilities of general benefit to the public as a whole in getting the G
trees planted on roadsides, the discharge of which is towards the public at
large and not towards an individual,· even though the individual may suffer
. .....; some harm. The Act does not provide for any sanctions for. omission to
take action; i.e., planting trees or their periodical check up when planted.
By process of interpretation, the Court would not readily infer creation of H
316 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1997]1 S.C.R. .
t

A individual liability to a·named person or cause of action to an individual,
unless the Act expressly says so. While considering the question whether
..., ...
or not civil liability is imposed by a statue, the court is required to examine
all the provisions to find out the precise purJ)OSe of the Act, scope and
content of the duty and the consequential cause of action for omission ~
;.
thereof. Action for damages will not lie in the suit by an injured person if i
B the damage suffered by him is not of the kind intended to be protected by
the Act. (321-G-H; 322-A-B]
.r
..
6.1. The statute enjoins a power to plant trees on the roadsides or "'i
in public places. There is no statutory sanction for negligence in that
c behalf. But the question is: whether the statutory function to plant trees
gives rise to duty of maintaining the trees. In a developing society it is but
obligatory on every householder, when be constructs bouse and equally for
a public authority to plant trees and properly nurture them up in a healthy
condition so as to protect and maintain the ceo-friendly environment. But
the question is: ·whether the public authority owes a statutory duty towards
r
~
D
that class of persons who frequent and pass and repass on the public
highway or road or the public places. If the local authority/statutory body ~

has neglected to periorm the duty of maintaining trees in a healthy
condition and when damage, due to fall of the tree occurs, the question
emerges whether the neighbour relationship and proximity or the causa-
E tion and negligence and the duty of care towards the plaintiff have been
satisfactorily proved to have existed so as to fasten the defendant with the
liability due to tort of negligence. It depends on a variety of facts and
circumstances. It is difficult to lay down any set standards for proof
~
,., thereof. [362-D-G]
F .,....
6.2. In a situation like the present one where the victim being not
aware of the disease/decay, the tree suddenly falls in a still weather
condition, no one can anticipate and it is difficult to foresee that a tree }
would fall suddenly and thereby a person who would be passing by on the
roadside, would suffer injury or would die in consequence. The Corpora·
G tion or the authority is not liable to be sued for tort of negligence since the
causation is too remote. Novus actus inconveniens s naps the link and, - ·
\
therefore, it is difficult to· establish Ia ck of care resulting in damage and
foreseeability of tbe damage. The case in band falls in this category. The ..__
deceased was admittedly passing on the roadside to attend to his office
H duty. The tree suddenly fell and he sustained Injury and consequently died.
RATKOTMUNICIPALCORPN. v. MANJULBEN JAYAN'JlLAL 317
It was difficult to foresee that a tree would fall on him. (363-D-Fl A

7. The conditions in India have not developed to s uch a n extent that
a Corporation can keep constant vigil by testing tht healthy condition of
the trees in the public places, roadside, highway frequented by passers-by.
There is no duty to maintain regular supervision thereof, though the local B
authority/other authority/owner of a proptrty is undet· a duty to plant and
maintain the tree. The causation for accident is too remote. Conse<JUently,
~ · ·.. there would be no Comr_non Law right to file s uit for t ort of n~:gligence. It
would not be just and proper to fasten duty of care and lia bility for
omission thereof. It would be difficult for the focal a uthority etc. to foresee
such an occurrence. Under these circumstances, it would be difficult to C
conclude that the appellant has been negligent in the maintenance of the
trees planted by it on the roadsides. (363-(;..H; 364-A]

Bourhill v. Young, (1943) AC 92; Bolton & Ors. v. Stone, (1951) AC
850; Fanugia v. Great Western R/y., (1947) 2 AllER 565; In re Po/emis & D 1
Furness, Withy & Co. Ltd., (1921) 3 KB 560; Sheppaard v. Borough of
G/ossoppp, (1921) 3 KB 132; Groves v. Lord Wimbome, [1898] 2 QB 402;
Lonrlw Ltd. v. Shell Petroleum Co. Ltd., (1982) AC 173; Hadely v. Baxendale,
(1854) 9 Ex 341; Haynes v. Hanvood, (1935)1 KB 146; Dorser Yacht Co. v.
Home Office, (1970) AC 1004; Kemp & Dougall v. Damgavil Cool Co. Ltd.,
(1909) AC 1314; Geddis v. Proprietors of Bonn Reservoir, (1878) 3 AC 430; E
Murphy v. Brentwood Distt. Council, (1991) 1 AC 398; Anns v. Merton
London Borough, (1978) AC 728; Caparo Industries Pic. v. Dickman, (1990)
... 2 AC 605; Hill v. Chief Constable of West Yorkshire, (1989) AC 53;.Smith v.
Littlewoods Organisation Ltd., (1987) AC 241; London Passenger Transport
Board v. Upson, (1949) AC 155; Stovin v. Wise (Norfolk County Council, F
Third Party), (1994) 3 All ER 467; Burton v. West Suffolk County Council,
(1960) 2 WLR 745; Blyth v. Binningham Watenvorks Co., (1856) tl Exch.
781; Pardon v. Harcourt Rivington, (1?32) 146 LT 391; Baxter v. Stockton-
on-Tees Corpn., [1959) 1 QB 441; Wilson v. Kingscon-upon-Thames C01pn,
(1949) 1 All ER 679; CA, Noble v. Harrison (1926) 2 KB 332; Barker v.
Herbert (1911) 2 KB 633; Cunliffe v. Bankes (1945) 1 All ER and Caminer G
v. Nonhem & London In vestment Tmst Ltd., (1950) 2 All E R 486, referred
to.

Hedley Byrne & Co. Ltd v. Heller & Partners Ltd., (1964) AC 465;
Governors of the Peabody Donation Fund v. Sir Lindsay Parkinson & Co. H
318 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997] 1 S.C.R. ·
A Ltd., (1985) AC 10; Leigh and Sillavan Ltd. v.Aliakmon Shipping Co. Ltd.,
(1986) AC 785; Curran v. Nort!tem Ireland Co- ownership Housing Assn. Ltd.,
(1987) AC 718; Council of the Shire of Sutherland v. Heyman, (1985) 157
CLR 424; Rylands v. Fletcher, (1986) 3 HL 330 and Yzwt Kun-Yey v. Attorney
General of Hong Kong, (1988) AC 175, cited.

B 8. Thete is a distinction between misfeasance (positive action) and
non-feasance (omission). Misfeasance is wilful, reckless or heedless con-
duct in commission of a positive act lawfully done but with improper
conduct. Non-feasance means non- performance of some act, which ought
to be performed, or omission to perform required duty or total neglect of
C duty. In the case of misfeasance, the defendant is the author of the source
of danger to cause damage due to careless conduct, to the person/property
of plaintiff. He has knowledge that the act may give rise to tort but in the
case of non-feasance several factors require consideration for giving rise
to actionable negligence. [342-D-F}

D 9. There is no statutory law in India, unlike in England regulating
damages for tortious liability. In the absence of statutory law in this regard
in India, Common law principles of tort evolved by the courts in England
may be applied in India to the extent of suitability and applicability to the
Indian conditions. [324-G·H; 325-A]
E Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation v. Ramanbhai Prabhatbhai
[1987] 3 SCC 234 and KRamdas Sltenoy v. The Chief Officer, Town
Municipal-Council, Udipi & Ors., AIR (1974) SC 2177, relied on.

Stevens v. Midland Counties Rly. Co., (1854) 10 Ex. 352, referred to.
F 10. It is well settled that a Municipal Corporation can be held liable
and accordingly it may be sued for wrongs involving fraud, malice, as well
as for wrong in which intention is immaterial. [325-C)

Barwick v. English Joirzt Stock Bank, (1867) LR 2 Ex. 259; Comford v.
G Carlton Bank, [1900] l QB 22 and Glasgow Corporation v. Loremer, (1911)
AC 209, referred to.

. 11. Duty primarily is fixed by law, which on violation fastens liability
to pay damages. It is personal to the injured. Tort and contract are
distinguishable. In tort, liability is primarily faxed by law while in contract
H it is faxed by the parties themselves. In tort, the duty is towards tbe persons
RAJKOTMUNICIPAL CORPN. v. MANJIJLBEN JAYANTli..AL(RAMASWAMY, J.) 319
generally while in contract it is towards specific person or persons. If the A
claim depends upon proof of the contract, action does not lie in tort. If the
claim arises, from the relationship between the parties, independent of the
contract, an action would lie in tort at the election of the plain tifT, although
he might alternatively have pleaded in contract. [325-E-F]

Sir Percy Winfield: "Province of the Law of Tori'~ p 32; Clerk and B
Liodsell: "Torts'~ Common Law Library, Series No. 3 (12th Edn.) Ch. 3, p
I, para I, Cb. 4, para 2; Oliver Lindel Holmes : "Common Law", (1881 Edn.)
p 96; Michael A. Jones : "Torts" (Fourth Edn.) 1955; Lawman (India) Pvt.
Ltd. Ch. n, p 30 and "Affirmative Action in the law of Tort : The case of
the Duty to Wam", (1989) 48 Camb. Journal, pp. 115-116. C
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 200 of
1997.

Form the Judgment and Order dated 20.3.91 of the Gujarat High
Court in F.A. No. 259 of 1980. D I'

.>
Mukul Mudgal for the Appellant.

P.S. Narasimha, (A.C.) for the Respondents.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by E
K. RAMASWAMY, J. Leave granted.

This appeal by special leave arising from tbe judgment ·o f the Division
Bench of the Gujarat High Court, dated March 20, 1991 ~n First Appeal
No. 259 of 1980, gives rise to an important question of law of liability for F
negligence in causing Lhe death of one 1ayaotilal, the husband of the
respondent No. 1 and father of tbe respondents Nos. 2 to 4 due to sudden
fall of a tree while he was passing on the road in Kothi compound of
Colleclorate on his way to attend to his duties as a Clerk in the offiee of
the Director of Industries, Rajkot. ·
G
The admitted facts are that the deceased Jayantilal was residing in
Padadhri. He used to daily come on a railway season ticket to Rajkot to
- +
attend to his office work. On March 25,1975, while he was walking on
footpath on way to hi-; office, a road-side tree suddenly feU on him as a
result of which he sustained injuries on his head and other parts of body H
320 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997}1 S.C.R.

A and later died in the hospital. The respondents filed the suit for damages
in a sum of Rs. 1 lakh from the appellant-Corporation. The trial Court
decreed the suit for a sum of Rs. 45,000 finding that the appe11ant bad
failed in its statutory duty to check the healthy condition of trees and to
protect the deceased from the tree falling on rum resulting in his death.
B On appeal, the Division Bench has held that the appellant has statutory
duty tv plant trees on the road-sides as also the corresponding duty to
maintain trees in proper condition. While the tree was in still condition, it
had suddenly fallen on the deceased Jayantilal who was passing on the
footpath. The statutory duty gives rise to tortious liability on the State- and
as its agent, the appellant-Corporation being a statutory authority was
C guilty of negligence on its part in not taking care to protect the life of the
deceased. The respondent cannot be called upon to prove that the tree had
fallen due to appellant's negligence. Statutory obligation to maintain trees
being absolute, and since the tree had fallen due to its decay, the appellant
has failed to prove that the occurrence had taken place without negligence
D on its part. The appellant failed to make periodical inspection whether the
trees were in good and healthy condition subjecting them to seasonal and
periodical treatment and examination. Therefore, the appellant had not
taken care to foresee the risk of the tree's falling and causing damage to
the passers-by. Thus the appellant is liable to pay damages for the death
of J ayantilal. The Division Bench accordingly confirmed the decree of the
E trial Court. Thus this appeal by special leave.

Sbri T.U. Mehta, learned senior counsel for the Corporation, con-
tended that the High Court is not right in its conclusion that the appellant
is having unqualified and absolute duty to maintain the trees and was guilty
F of not taking reasonable care in maintaining the trees in healthy condition.
The burden of proof is on the respondents to prove that there was breach
of duty on its part and that the occurrence had taken place for not taking
reasonable care. In the nature of l;he things, it is difficult for the Corpora-
tion to inspect every tree to find out whether it is in a healthy or decaying
condition. The standard of care is not as high as in the case of breach of
G a statutory duty as the case whereby positive act, the Corporation created
a thing which is dangerous and failed to prevent such danger which caused
damage to others. It is not enough for the respondents to establish that the
appellant was remiss in its periodical treatment to the plants but was ..,. -
careless in the breach of specific legal duty of care towards the deceased
H Jayantilal. The Corporation could not foresee that a tree would fall all of
·.
RAJKOTMUNICIPAL<X>RP~. v. MANJULBEN JAYANTILAL(RAMAS\VAMY.J.) 321

a sudden when Jayantilal was passing on the footpath. There is no A
reasonable proximity between the duty of care and the doctrine of neigh-
bourhood laid by the House of Lords in Donoghue v. Stevenson, (1932) AC
562. The Common Law liability on the part of a statutory Corporation is
now authoritatively settled in Mwplzy v. Bremwood District Council, (1991)
1 AC 398 over-ruling the two tier test laid down inAmts. v. Merton London B
Burough Counci4 (1978) AC 728. A Breach of statutory duty, therefore,
does not ipso facto entail Corporation's liability for its failure or of its staff
to comply with the statutory duty to protect Jayantilal or class of persons
to which the deceased is a member. There is no liability for negligence
unless a legal duty to take care existo; towards the deceased Jayantilal or
class of persons, i.e. pedestrians and that duty should be one which the C
Corporation owed to the plaintiff himself. Thls should be pleaded and
proved which is lacking in the present case. Knowledge of harm l,ikely to
occur to the deceased is a pre-requisite of liability which must •Jn some
sense be foreseeable.
D
It was further contended that though Corporation has a statutory
duty to plant trees, no action will lie against it for damages since the
indemnity extends not merely to act itself but also to its necessary conse-
quences. The High Court, it was argued, has also committed serious error
in its conclusion that the statutory duty of the Corporation to maintain trees
carries with it the duty to take care by regular examination of the health E
of the trees and felling of decaying trees; it lost sight of the fact that it is
only a discretionary duty. The legislature did not i~tcnd to confer any cause
of action for breach of the statutory duty and none was provided for its
breach. The conclusion of the High Court that because of the breach of
absolute statutory duty the corporation was negligent, is not correct F
proposition of law.

In determining the legislative intent, the Court is required to consider
three factors, viz., the context and the object of the statute, the nature and
precise scope of the relevant provisions and the damage suffered not of G
the kind to be guarded against. The object of the Act is to promote
facilities of general benefit to the public as a whole in getting the trees

-- .... planted on road-sides, the di.<icbarge of which is towards the public at large
and not" towar.ds an individual, even though the individual may suffer some
harm. The act does not provide for any sanctions for omission to take
action; i.e., planting trees or their periodical check up when planted. By H
322 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997) 1 S.C.R.
A process of interpretation, the Court would not readily infer creation of
-r 1t;

individual liability to a named person or cause of action to an individual,
unless the Act expressly says so. While considering the question whether
or not civil liability is imposed by a statute, the court is required to examine
all the provis.ions to find out the precise purpose of the Act, scope and
content of the duty and the consequential cause of action for omission
B thereof. Action for damages will not lie in the suit by an injQ[ed person if
the damage suffered by him is not of the kind intended to be protected by
the Act. ...

Before issuing notice, this Court directed the appellant to deposit Rs.
c 5,000 towards the cost of the respondents to defend the action in this
Court, since an important question of law of general importance arises in
the case. Accordingly, the said sum come to be deposited. When notice
was issued, the respondents sent a letter to the Registry stating that apart
from the said sum of the Rs. 5,000, additional amount that was decreed by
D the lower Court, should also be directed to be deposited as a condition to
defend the case and further costs. Under those circumstances, by order
dated August 24, 1995 we observed that the stand taken by the respondents
was unreasonable and not correct. Slui P.S. Narasimha, who was present
on that day .in this Court, was requested in assist the Court as amicus curiae
and to receive the above sum of Rs. 5,000 towards his fee. We directed the
E counsel to submit their written arguments. Accordingly, the counsel have
submitted their written arguments. Shri Narasimha, learned amicus curiae
made thorough study on the subject and has given valuable assistance. We
place on record our deep appreciation of the pains taken by him. Accord-
ing to the learned counsel, the liability in tort which arose in Common Law
F has been evolved by the courts in England but law has not b een well
-,...
developed in our jurisdiction. In Common Law, there existed duty of
foreseeability, :proximity, just and reasonable cause and policy. Attempts
have been made to identify general theory of liability in tort consistent with
causation, fairness, reciprocity and justice, balancing conflicting interests
as we11 as economic efficiency. The t')rtious liability falls into one of the
G three categories, viz., (a) some intentional wrong doing (b) negligence and
(c) strict liability. In this case, we are concerned with negligence on the
part of the appellant- Corporation in maintaining the trees on the road-
sides. The principle evolved by the courtc; in England is that a r~asonable
foresight of harm to persons whom it is foreseeable or is likely to harm by
+
-
H one's carelessness is essential. For the plaintiff to succeed, in an action for
RAJKOT MUNICIPAL CORPN. v. MANJULBEN JAYANTILAL (RAMASWAMY, J.) 323
..., -< negligence the plaintiff requires to prove that (i) the defendant is under a A
duty to take care; (ii) the burden of proof owed by the plaintiff has been
discharged by the proof of breach of duty and (ui) the breach of the duty
of care is the cause for damage suffered by the plaintiff. Breach of duty
raises factual question whether the required standard of conduct has been
reached. It is only relevant if a duty of care has been held to exist in law.
B
Damage similarly is also confined to the enquiry of facts. Duty of care, on
the other hand, is for more crucial concept as it fiXes the boundaries of
tort of negligence. The regulation of duty of care envisaged in Donoghue's
" principle, in its widest terms, has a·reasonable foresight of harm to persons
whom it is foreseeable or is likely to be harmed by one's carelessness and
has in tum made it easy to hold in subsequent cases that there should be c
liability for negligently inflicting damage in new situations not covered by
previous case law because damage was foreseeable. If want of outy of care
is established, there comes to exist foreseeability of the damage and
sufficient proxiinate relationship between the parties and it must be just
and reasonable to impose such a duty. The legal duty to prove proximity
D
~
is not physical proximity. Proximity is used to describe a relationship
between the parties by virtue of which the defendant can reasonably
foresee. that his action or omission is likely to cause damage to the plaintiff
of the relevant type. The relationship refers to no more than the relevant
situations of the parties as a consequence of which such foreseeability of
damage may exist. The English principles of common law are approved E
and adopted by the courts in India on the principles of justice, equity and
good conscience. In support thereof, he relied upon Gujarat State Road
Transport Corporation v. Ramabhai .Prabhatbhai, [1987) 3 SCC 234 at 238.

Appellant·Corporation owes a duty of care in .common law. The trees F
and streets vest in the Corporation. It was its responsibility, therefore, to
maintain the trees. The Corporation should have the foresight that trees,
if neglected to be maintained properly, could cause injury to passers·by.
The findings recorded by the courts below that the appellant has com·
mitted breach of duty of care is a fmding of fact. From the breach of the
duty of care, the entitlement to damages arises to the respondents due to G
the death of Jayantilal. The learned counsel also relied upon K Ramadas
_,. .. Shenoy v. The Chief Officer, Town Municipal Council, Udipi & Ors., AIR
(1974) SC 2177 and contended that answer to the question whether an
individual who is one of the class for whose benefit and obligation has been
i.J:Dposed, whellter or not enforced in action for omission to perform the H
·~ -·

324 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997] 1 S.C.R.
A duty, depends upon the language used in the statute. The injury may be
caused either by fulfillment of the duty or omission to carry it out or by
negligence in its performance. In the light of the above principles, he
submitted that though the duty of the appellant to plant trees is discretion-
ary nonetheless it has a statutory duty to plant the trees and to maintain
B · them under Section 66 of the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation
Act, 1949 (for short, the "Act") and the discretion must be construed to be
mandatory duty. By the omission to perform the duty to maintain the trees
in healthy condition or to cut off the trees in decaying condition, the
Corporation entails with liability to make good the loss/damages caused to
the respondents. The High Court, therefore, has not committed any error
C of law warranting interference.

The diverse contentions· give rise to the questions : whether the
appellant-Corporation owes a duty of care to maintain the trees as a
statutory duty and whether the cause of death of Jayantilal bas proximate
D relationship with the negligence giving rise to tortious liability,entailing
payment of compensation to the respondents? The marginal note of Sec- - fl

tion 66 of the Act indicates "Matters which may be provided for by the
Corporation at its discretion". It envisages that the Corporation may in its
discretion, provicles from time to time, wholly or partly for all or any of the
following matters viz., (viii) "the planting and maintenance of trees on
E road-sides and elsewhere". Under Section 202 of the Act, all streets, within
the city 'vest in the Corporation and are under the control of the Corpora-
tion. The Act does not provide machinery for enforcement of obligations
cast under Section 66, nor in the event of failure to discharge those
obligations any remedy is provided. By operation of Section 202 read with
F Section 66, si.rice the trees vest in the Corporation, the Corporation is
statutorily obligated to plant and maintain trees on the road sides and
elsewhere as a public amenity to ensure ceo-friendly environment. An
attempt had been made in 1965 to codify the law of tort in a statutory
form. The Bill in that behalf, reintroduced in the Parliament in 1967, died
as still born. Therefore, there is no statutory law in India, unlike in
G England, regulating damages for tortious liability. In the absence of
statutory law or established principles of law laid by this Court or High
Courts consistent with Indian conditions and circumstances, this Court
selectedly applied the common law principles evolved by the courts in
England on grounds of justice, equity and good conscience (vide
H Ram011bhai PrabhaJbhai's case). Common law principles of tort evolved by
RAJKOTMUNICIPAL CORPN. v. MANJULBE~ JAYAN11LAL(RAMASWAMY, J.) 325

the courts in England may be applied in India to the extent of suitability A
and applicability to the Indian conditions. Let us consider and evolve our
principles in tune with the march of law in their jurisprudence of liability
on tort. It is necessary to recapitulate the development of the principles
and law of tort developed by evolutionary process by applying them from
case to case and in some cases the statement of law laid by H ouse of Lords, B
as guiding principles of law on tortious liability. In the formative stage of
the development of tortious liability, the Corpor~tion being a Corporation
aggregate of persons, could not be held liable where liability involved some
specific ~tate of mind as was held in·Stevens v. Midland Counties Railway,
(1854) 10 Ex. 352. However, it is now well settled that a Corporation can
be held liable and accordingly it may be sued for wrongs involving fraud, C
malice, as well as for wrong in which intention is immaterial as was held
in BaTWick v. English Joint Stock Bank, (1867) LR 2 Ex. 259; Comford v.
Carlton Ba11k, (1900) 1 Queen's Bench 22 and Glasgow Co1poration v.
Loremer, (1911) AC 209.
D
ln Sir Percy Winfield's in his "Province of the Law of Tort" page 32
referred in "Clerk and Lindsell on Torts" (Common Law Library Series No.
3) (12th Edn.) Chapter I, page 1, para 1, it is stated that "tortious liability
arises from the breach of a duty primarily ftXed by the law; ·such duty is
towards persons generally and its breach is redr essable by an action for
unliquidated damages". Duty primarily is ftXed by law which on violation, E
fastens liability to pay damages. It is personal to the injured. Tort and
contract are distinguishable. In tort, liability is primarily ftXed by law while
in contract it is fixed by the parties themselves. In tort, the duty is towards
the persons generally while in contract it is towards specific person or
persons. If the claim depends upon proof of the contract, action docs not F .
lie in tort. If the claim arises, from the relationship between the parties,
independent of the contract, an-action would lie in tort at the election of
the plaintiff, although he might alternatively have pleaded in contract. The
law of tort prevents hurting one another. All torts roosist of violation of a
right in the plaintiff. Tort law, therefore-, is primarily evolved to compensate G
the injured by compelling the wrong-doer to pay for the damage done.
Since distributive losses are an inevitable by-product of modern living in
allocating the risk, the law of tort makes less and less allowance to punish-
ment, admonition and deterrence found in criminal law. The purpose of
the law of tort is to adjust these losses and offer compensation for injuries
by one person as a r esult of the conduct of another. The law could not H
326 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1997] 1 S.C.R.
A · attempt to compensate all losses. Such an aim would oot only be over-am-
bitious put might conflict with basic notions of social policy. Society has no
interest in mere shifting of loss between individuals for its own sake. The
loss, by .hypothesis, may have already occurred, and whatever benefit might
be derived from repairing, the fortunes of one person is exactly offset by
B the harm caused through taking that amount away from another. The
economic assets of the community do not increase and expense is incurred
in the process of realisation, as stated by Oliver Lindel Holmes in his
"Common Law" at page 96 (1881 Edn.). The Security and stability are
generally accepted as worthwhile social objects, but there is no inherent
reason for preferring the security and stability of plaintiffs to those of
C defendants. Hence, shifting of loss is justified only when there exists special
reason for requiring the defendant to bear it rather than the plaintiff on
whom it happens to have fallen. (vide "Common Law" of Holmes).

In "Blacks Law Dictionary" (6th Edn.) at page 1489, 'tort' is defined
D as violation of duty imposed by general law or otherwise upon all persons
occupying the relation to each other involved in a given transaction. There
must always be a violation of some duty owed to plaintiff and generally
such a duty must arise by operation of law and not by mere agre~ment of
the parties. "A legal wrong is committed upon the person or property,
independent of contract It may be either (1) a direct invasion of some legal
E right of the individual; (2) the infraction of some public duty by which
special damage accrues to the individual; (3) the violation of some private
obligation by which like damage accrues to the individual". Negligence is
fa·ilure to .use such care as a reasonable prudent and careful person would
use·, under similar circumstances. It is the doing of some act which a person
F of ordinary prudence would not have done.under simi Ia~ circumstances or
failure to do what a person of ordinary prudence would have done under
similar circumstances. Negligence also is an omission to do something
which a reasonable man, guided by those ordinary considerations which
ordinarily regulate human affairs, would do, or the doing of something
which a _reasonable and prudent man would not do.
G
Negligence and tort have been viewed without elaborately embarking
upon the definition of "tort" applicable to varied circumstances and the
scope of negligence in its wider perspective. Let us proceed to consider
the meaning of "negligencev in the context of tort liability arising in this
H case. In every case giving rise to tortious liability, tort consists of injury and
RAJKOTMUNICIPAL CORPN. v. MANJULBEN JAYANTILAL[RAMASWAMY, J.) 327

damage due to negligence. Claim for injury and damage may be founded A
on breach of contract or tort. We are concerned in this case with tort. The
liability in tort may be strict liability, absolute liability or special liability. The
degree of liability depends on degree of mental element. The elements of
tort of negligence consist in - (a) duty of care; (b) duty is owed to the
plaintiff; (c) the duty has been ·carelessly breached. Negligence does not B
entail liability unless the law exacts a duty in the given circumstances to
observe care. Duty is an obligation recognised by law to avoid conduct
... fraught with unreasonable risk of damage to others. The question whether
duty exists in a particular situation involves determination of law. Negligence
would in such acts and omissions involve as unreasonable risk of harm to
others. The breach of duty causes damage and how much is the damage C
should be comprehended by the defendant. Remoteness is relevant and
compensation on proof thereof requJes consideration. The element of
carelessness in the breach of the duty and those duties towards the plaintiff
are important components in the tort of negligence. Negligence would mean
careless conduct in commission or omission of an act connoting duty, breach D
and the damage thereby suffered by the person to whom the plaintiff owes.
Duty of care is, therefore, crucial to understand the nature and scope of
the tort of negligence.

The question in each case is whether the defendant has been
negligent. In determining duty of care, public policy involved in the statute · E
requires detailed examination. Upon examination, they are required to
further consider whether its extension elongates the public policy or retards
its effectuation or frustrates its object and the inevitable effect thereof on
the affected plaintiff as well as general public. No general or abstract
principle is desirable to be laid. The careless breach of duty will vary from F
case to case and it should not be unduly extended or confined or limited to
all situations. The attending circ'umstances require evaluation and applica-
tion to particular set to facts of a given case. The standard of care also varies
in a particular factual situation. Defendant must be under a duty of care not
to treat latent source of physical danger to the person or property of third G
party whom he ought to reasonably foresee as likely to be affected thereby~
Thus the latent defect cau-;ing actual physical damage to the person or
property gives the cause of action and then only the defendant is liable to
pay the damages for tortious liability. It must, therefore, be an essential
element to establish that there is a positive act or a duty and the defendant
is under duty of care not to create/direct latent source of physical danger H
328 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1997] 1 S.C.R.
A to the person or property or third party whom he ought to reason~bly
foresee as likely to be affected thereby.

Negligence has been viewed in three ways. Firstly involving a careless
state of mind; secondly, a careless conduct; and thirdly, a tort in itself.
B Every case giving rise to tortiou.<; liability, consists of injury and damage
done due to negligence. Injury and damage may be found due to breach
of contract of tort. We are concerned in this case with the injury and
dam.age in tort. Therefore, it is necessary to dwell, in depth, on strict ....
liability, absolute liability or special liability. In the present case, the
omission alleged is to take care of periodical check-up of the condition of
C the trees. The degree of liability depends upon the degree of mental
element. The elements of tort of n~ligence, . therefore, ·consist in (a) duty
of care (b) duty owed to the plaintiff and (c)- it has been carelessly
breached. Negligence does not give rise to liability unless the law fastens
the duty of care in given circumstances. Duty is an obligation recognised
D by law to avoid conduct brought with unreasonable risk of damage to
another. The question whether duty consists in a particular situation invol-
ves determination as a question of law.

Neglig~nce would mclude both acts and omissions involving un-
reasonable risk of having done harm to another. The breach of duty must
E cause damage. How much of the damage to be compensated by the defen-
dant should be attributed to his wilful .conduct and how much to his wilful
negligence or careless conduct or remissness in performance of duty, are all
relevant facts to be considered in a given act or omission in adjudging duty
of care. The element of carelessness or the breach of du~' and whether that
F duty is towards plaintiff or class of persons to which the plaintiff belongs )"-
are important components in tort of negliSfnce. Negligence would, there-
fore, mean careless conduct in commission or omission of an act, whereby
another to whom the plaintiff owed duty of care has suffered damage. The
duty of care is crucial in understanding the nature and scope of tort of
negligence. The question in each case is whether the defendant has been
G negligent in the performance of duty or omission thereof. Determination of
duty of care also involves statutory action which requires detailed examina-
tion. Local authority, when it exercises its public law function, generally
owes no private law duty of care. Duty of care must be owed to a person :lr ·...-:

or class of persons to which the plaintiff belongs and must be to· avoid
H causing particular type of injury or damage to his person or property. The
y"

RAJKOTMUNICIPALOORPN. "- MANJULBEN JAYAN1li.AL[RAMASWAMY, J.t 329
~

Court requires to examine the scope of duty of care which the local authority A
... -1- owes to the plaintiff. The court is required to consider the object, scope and
breach of the Act. Though the statute is of general character, since the
Government or local authority is entrusted with the duty to implement the
law, though at its discretion, and if damage is done in execution thereof,
what requires to be examined is whether the aforestated elements of tort of
B
negligence stand attracted. The Court is further required to consider
whether extension of duty of care by the process of interpretation would

:r
., elongate the public policy or retard its object or frustrate public policy
behind the statute and the inevitable effect thereof on the affected plaintiff
as well as the general public. No general princ!ple of law is desirable to be
laid down as an acid test. c
While considering whether an action would lie for breach of statutory
duty, what requires to be established, among other things, is that the harm
complained of is of the kind contemplated by the statute, as was held in
Gorris v. Scott, {1874) LR 9 Ex. 125 and Kinlgollon v. W. Cooke & Co. Ltd.,
D

l
~
..,..
(1956) WLR 527.

The degree of carelessness in breach of duty would, therefore, vary
from case to case and it should not unduly be extended or confined or
limited or circumscribed to all situations. The attending circumstances
~ require evaluation and appliC3'tion to a given set of facts in the case on hand. E
Defendant must be under duty of care not to create latent source of physical
danger/damage to the person or properly of third party whom he ought to
have reasonably foreseen a-; likely lo be affected thereby. Those latent
defects cause physical danger to the person or the property giving cause of
action and the defendant then is liabie to pay damage for tortious liability. F
~
It must, therefore, be the essential element to establish that there is positive
ad or duty and the defendant is under that duty. The Court is not to create,
by process of interpretation, latent source of physical danger to the person
or property of third party when the Act does not envisage that the defendant
ought to have r_easonably foreseen him as likely to be affected thereby.
.i
Negligence connotes inadvertence to the consequences of his conduct which G
can be a measure of behaviour where one person had been careless in that
he did not behave as a prudent man have done whether by advertancc or
... -;. otherwise. The tort of negligence always requires some form of careless
conduct which is usually, although not necessarily, the product of inadver-
tence. Not every careless conduct which causes damage, however, will give H
330 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997) 1 S.C.R.
A rise to an action in tort. The negligence lies in failure to take such steps as
a reasonable prudent man would have taken in the given circumstances.
What constitutes carelessness is the conduct and not the result of inadver-
tence. Thus negligence in this sense is a ground for liability in lorl.

B Tlie question emerges; as to when would Lhe b(each of stalutory duty
under a particular enactment give rise to tortious liability? The ~talutory
duty gives rise to civil action. The stalutory negligence is sui generis and ·
independent of any other form of tortious liability. It would, therefore, be ~.
of necessity to find out from the construction of each statutory duty
whether the particular duty 'is general duty in public Jaw or private law duty
C towards the plaintiff. The plaintiff must show that (a) the injury suffered is
within the ambit of statute; (b) statutory duty imposes a liability for civil
action; (c) the statutory duty was not fulfilled; and (d) the breach of duty
has caused him injury. These essentials are required to be considered in
each case. The action for breach of statutory duty may belong to the ...
I
D category of either strict or absolute liability which is required, therefore,
to be considered in the nature of statutory duty the defendant owes to the
plaintiff; whether or nol the duty is absolute; and the public policy under-
lying the duty. In most cases, the statute may not give rise to cause of action
unless it is breached and it has caused damage to the plaintiff, though
occassionally the statute may make breach of duty ac:iooable per se. The
E burden, therefore, is on the plaintiff to prove on balance of probabilities
that the defendant owes that dul-y of care to the plaintiff or class of persons
to whom he belongs, that defendant was negligent in the performance or
omission of that duty and breach of duty caused or materially contributed
to his injury and that duty of e<:&re is owed on the defendant. If the statute
f requires certain protection on the principle of vo/enti non fit injuria, the
liability stands excluded. The breach of duty created by a statute, if it
results in damage to an individual prima facie, is tort for which the action
for damages .,.,;u lie in the suit. One would often take the Act, as a whole,
to find out the object of the law and to find out whether' one bas right and
G remedy provided for breach of duty. It would, therefore, be of necessity in (

every case to find the intention of legislature in creating duty and the
resultant consequences suffered from the action or omission thereof, which
are required to be considered. No action for damages lies if on proper
construction of statute, the intention is that some other remedy is available.
One of the tests in determining the intention of the statute is to ascertain
H whether the duty is owed primarily to the general publjc or community and
..=- - RAJKOTMUNICIPAL CORPN. ,.. MANJULBEN JAYANTILAL [RAMASWAMY, 1.] 331
only incidentally to an i~dividual or pr'imarily to the individual or class of A
(

"' ~ individuals and only incidentally to the general public or the community. If
the statute aims at duty to protect a particular citizen or particular class of
1 ·citizens to which the plaintiff belongs, it p1ima facie creates at the same
~
' time co-relative right vested in those citizens of which plaintiff is one; he
\ has remedy for enforcement, namely, the action for damages for any loss
..f B
~ occasioned due to negligence or for failure of it. But this test is not always

lI conclusive.
.,.
Duty may be of such paramount importance that it is owed to all the
public. It would be wrong to think that on an action, the duty could be
-1
• enforced by way of damages when duty is owed to a section of public and c
cannot be enforced if an individual sustains damages to whom the Cor-
poration owes no duty and no private interest is infringed. Breach of
statutory duty, therefore, requires to be examined in the context in which
the duty is created not towards the individual, but has its effect on the right
of -individual vis-a-vis the society. Statutory duty generally is towards public
D
at large and not towards an individual or individuals and the co-relative
\ )>· right is vested in the public and not in private person, even though they
~
may suffer damages. The duty in such a case is to be enforced by way of
criminal prosecution or by way of injunction at the suit under Section 192 ,
~ of CPC or with leave of Court under Order I, Rule 8, CPC by public
spirited person or in any appropriate manner to enforce the right and not E
~ by way of private action for damages. In that situation, the legislature, while
recognising the private right vested in an injured individual, may intend
"1 that it shall be maintained solely by some special remedy provided for a
~ particular case and not by ordinary method of an action for damages as
penalty or compensation. F
4

. If the statute creates right and remedy, damages are recoverable by

.
{ establishing the breach of statute as the sole remedy available under the
statute. But where statute merely creates a duty without expressly providing
any remedy for breach of it, appropriate remedy, prima facie, is punishment
for misdemeanour in respect of the injury to the public and the action for G
damages in respect of any special damage suffered by an individual: Where
special remedy is expressly provided prima facie that was intended to be
-(
tlic only remedy and by implication it excludes the resort to -common law.
But this is also by no means conclusive. The consideration would be
whether the-statute intends to award damages for breach of statutory duty. H
~
332 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997) 1 S.C.R.
A Though general rule is that where a statute creates an obligation and
enforces performance in specified manner, performance cannot be en- -t-
forced in any other manner. It depends on the scope of the Act which
creates the obligation and on consideration of the underlying policy of the
statute, effect on the individuals is to be carefully examined and analysed
B as to what the statute has expressly laid down or probably what the statute
aims to achieve. The action for damages will not lie if the damage suffered
by him is not of the type intended to be guarded against.

If statute provides that a certain thing must be done, it is a question
of interpretation whether the statute aims the thing to be done in all events
C or merely that person upon whom the duty is imposed is to use due care
and diligence in the performance of duty or that if he failc; to perform it,
though for no fault of his, he should be free from liability. When a duty is
created by the statute, breach of which is an actionable tort, the question - - -
would be whether the -liability is absolute or dependent on wrongful intent
D or negligence. It seems to be contrary to statutory intendment to impose
liability upon Public body for a thing for which no reasonable care in the
performance of the concerned act could be inferred from the language "f

use~ in the statute; it ought not to be so construed as to inflict the liability
· on the public authority unless the purpose sought to be achieved has been
wanting due to want of exercise of duty and reasonable care in the
E per.formance of duty imposed by the statute.

It is now well settled legal position by court pronouncements in
England that a public authority may be subject to common law duty of care
a
when it exercises a statutory power or when there exists statutory duty.
F The principle is that when a statutory power · is conferred, it must be
exercised with reasonable care so that if those who exercise their power
could, by reasonable precaution, prevent any injury which has been oc-
casioned and was likely to be occasioned by their exercise and the damage
for negligence may be recovered. T~e above 'principle has been applied
G mainly to private acts. To establish negligence, it is necessary to show that
duty to take care existed and such duty was owed to the plaintiff in Bourhill
v. Youn& (1943) Appeal Cases 92. The House of Lords laid the test to
ascertain whether a duty was owed to the plaintiff to sec whether an injury
to the plaintiff was the foreseeable result of the defendant's conduct in
given circumstances. In Bolton & Ors. v. Stone, (1951) Appeal Cases 850,
H the House of Lords held that the foreseeability must be of reasonable
RAJKOT MUNICIPAL CORPN. v. MANJULBEN JAY ANTILAL /RAMASWAMY, J.) 333

.... + possibilities. It is not necessary to show that the person who suffered A
damage should have been within the tortfeasor's contemplation as an
identified individual as was held in Famtquia v. Great Westem Railway,
(1947) 2 ELR 565. As long as harm to any pet:son was reasonable foresee-
able, it may not matter whether the precise chain of events leading to it
was not foreseen as was held in /11 re Polemis & Fumess withy & Co. (1921)
King's Bench 560.
B

However, it has been extended to statutory duties by public
authorities and notably for public utilities, exercising the powers under
public statutes. Cause of action in negligence arises under the principle of
breach of duty of care existing in common law. Unless the statute manifests C
a contrary intention, public authority which enters upon in exercise of
statutory power may place itself in a relationship to the members of the
public which imposes a common law duty to take care. A breach of
statut_ory duty may itself give rise to civil cause of action. Existence of a
statutory cause of action is generally based on strict liability but it does not D
exclude liability for breach of common law duty of care unless a statute
provides otherwise. Statutory duty and its breach itself may give rise to a
separate causation or it may be evidence of negUgence of common law.
Therefore, a public authority is not liable at the suit of an individual for
damages for breach of a statutory duty, unless the statute on its true
construction manifests a contrary intention or confers a civil cause of E
action.

Generally, a public authority entrusted with no statutory obligation
to exercise a power, does not come under common law duty of care to do
so but by conduct the public authority may place itself in such a situation F
that it attr~cts the duty of care which calls for exercise of the power.
Common illustration is provided by an action in which an authority in the
exercise of its functions, if it had created a danger, thereby subjecting itself
to a duty of care for the safety of others which must be discharged by iin
exercis~ of its statutory power or by giving necessary warnings. It is the G
conduct of the authority in creating the danger that attracts the duty of
care as envisaged in Sheppard v. Glossop Corp., (1921) 3 KB 132. The
statute does not by itself give rise to a civil action but it forms the
formulation on which the common law can build a cause of action. If the
public authority under a statutory d~ty places itself in such a position that
others may rely on it to.take care for their safety so that the authority comes H
334 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997] 1 S.C.R.
A under a duty of care calling for positive action, then such a relationship
would arise where a person by present or past conduct, upon which other
persons come to rely, creates a self-imposed duty to take positive action to
protect the safety or interest of another or at least to warn him that he or
his interest is at risk or in danger. Reliance by others, therefore, has been
B an important element in establishing the existence of duty of care. The
liability in negligence is based on the plaintifrs reliance on the defendant's
taking care in circumstances where the defendant is aware or ought to be
aware of that reliance. Reliance by the plaintiff, therefore, is an essential
element in the action for failure to exercise the power especially when it is
a power coupled with duty.
c
There is a distinction between failure to exercise a statutory power
giving causation for damage by positive act of negligence by another and
some accidental occurrence or by omission. When there is a duty to take
precautio~ against damage occurring to others through the acls of thjrd
D parties or through accident/omission of the duty, it may be. regarded as
materially causing or materially contributing to the damage should it occur,
subject, of course, to the question whether performance of the duty would
have averted the harm. Duty of care may also exist in relation to discre-
tionary considerations which stand outside the policy of the statute and
operational factors. In the operational factors, though the statute creates
E discretionary function, its omission or action may also give rise to causation
to claim damages: The distinction between policy and operational factors
is not easy to formulate but the dividing line between them has been
recognised as a distinctive det~rminiog factor. Public authority is under a
duty of care in relation to decisions which involve or are directed by
F financial, economic, social or political factors or constraints. In that behalf,
the dutY of care stands excluded or any action that is merely the product
of administrative direction etc. may not provide causation for damages but
when the performance of the duty, though couched with discretion, is
enjoined on the statutory authority, the question whether the power, if
exercised with due care, would have minimised, rather prevented or
G avoided ·the damage sustained by the plaintiff, requires to be examined.

Tlie general rule is that the public authorities are liable for positive
action (misfeasance} but not for omission (non-feasance). In· considering )r

the duty of public authority to avoid harm to those likely to be affected by
H the exercise of power or duty, the courts have evolved the relationshlp of
RAJKOTMUN!CIPAL CORPN. v. MANJULBEN JA YANTILAL(RAMASWAMY, J.] 335
-proximity or neighbourhood nexus which exists between the person who A
suffered damages and wrong doer. Where there is allegation .of wrong
doing it has to be seen whether the letter reasonably ought to have foreseen
that the carelessness on his part, is likely to cause damage to the other. In
other words, if it is a reasonable foreseeability that carelessness. on the
defendant's part will cause damage to the plaintiff, then the defendant is B
plaintiffs neighbour and prima facie owes towards the plaintiff a ~uty of
care which may, however, be negatived on the ground of public policy or
reasonable care taken at the operational stage.

The distinction between area of public policy and operational area
is a logical and convenient one as has already been elaborated. Undoub- C
tedly, a public authority is liable for the negligent acts of its servants o~
agents in carrying out their duties, or exercising their· powers, within the
operational area, although if the performance of their duties or the exercise
of their power involves the exercise of discretion. An act will not be
negligent, if it is done in good faith in the exercise of, and within the limits D
of, the discretion.

At the cost of repetition we mY reiterate that negligence is the
omission to do something which a reasonable man, guided upon those
considerations which ordinarily regulate the conduct of human affairs,
would do, or doing something which a prudent and reasonable man would E
not do. The defendants might have been liable for negligence. if, uninten-
tionally, they omitted to do that which a reasonable person would have
done, or did that which a person taking reasonable precautions would not
have done. However, as a general rule, a failure to act is not negligent
unless there is a duty to act. The duty may arise because of the conduct of F
the defendant himself or it may be created by statute. Therefore, ordinary
principles of la'\V of negligence apply to public authorities. They are liable
for damage caused by a negligent failure to act when they are under a duty
to act, or for a negligent failure to consider whether to exercise a power
conferred on them with the intention that it should be exercised and if and
when the public interest requires it. If a public authority has decided to G
exercise the power, and has done so negligently,a person who has acted
by relying on what the public authority has done, may have no difficulty in
proving that the damage resulted from a negligent failure to act and there
may not be greater difficulty in proving causation. But if the public
authority omitted to exercise its discretionary power, there is greater H
336 SUPREMECOURTREPORTS [1997] 1 S.C.R.

A difficulty to prove that causation has arisen. The basic difference, therefore, i
between causing something and failure to prevent it from happening must
always be kept in view in deciding the liability for damages resulting from
the failure to perform the statutory or common law duty. The common law
would not impose a duty of care on a public authority in relation to failure
to exercise its power when those powers are exercisable for the benefit of
B the public rather than for the benefit of individuals or a class of individuals.

Statutory power is not something like a statutory duty. Before the
repository of a statutory power can be made liable for negligence for a
failure to exercise it, the statute must (either expressly or by iMplication)
C impose a duty to exercise the power and confer a private right of action in
damages for a breach of the duty so imposed. The question whether the
[
Act confers a private right of action depends upon the interpretation of l
the provisions of the Act. But by process of statutory interpretation, the
courts may not superimpose a general Common Law duty on a statutory
D authority in order to give effect to its presumed idea of policy or duty.
Common Law does not super-impose such a duty on a mere statutory
authority. The nature and scope of the Common Law duty of care owed
by a public authority exercising statutory powers must be discerned care-
fully by reading the provisions of the Act, the object it seeks to achieve and
other relevant considerations. The public authority is under a duty to take
E some action whether or not in exercise of its statutory power or not to
prevent injury only if its antecedent acts, have created or increased a risk
of injury of that kind. The normal duty of care cannot be a duty to exercise
the statutory power to prevent injury to another or otherwise to act in such
a way as to prevent injury to him unless the Act has imposed such a duty
F or unless the authority has itself created or increased the risk of injury of )'-·

that kind. In the absence of such a statutory duty, a normal duty of exercise
of care cannot arise unless the act actually done in exercise of a statutory
power, creates or increases the risk of foreseeable injury to another and
then the duty is to do those acts with reasonable care and to take
reasonable precautions to prevent that injury from occurring. The duty of
G care, therefore, must have co-relationship to the kind of damage that the
plaintiff has suffered and not to the plaintiff or a class of which the plaintiff
is a member.

In "The Modem Law of Tort, London, Sweet & Maxwell (1994
H Edn.), ~.M. Stanton has discussed the breach of statutory duty, express or
RAJKOT.MUNICIPALCORPN. v. M~NJULBEN JAYANTILAL[RAMASWAMY,J.) 337
'""· inferential. He has stated a:t page 42 that the statutory tort takes a number A
of different forms. A number of modern statutes ex-Pressly create a detailed ·
scheme of tortious liability. The conditions for the existence of a duty; the
standard of conduct required and the available defences are all defined.
The law created is part of the mainstream of tort liability. On inferential
breach of statutory duty, he has stated that breach of statutory duty denotes
B
a common law tortious liability created by courts to allow an individual to
claim compensation for damages suffered as a result of another breaking
the provisions of a statute which does not, on its face provide a remedy in
tort. A tortious remedy is obviously available if a statute says that the
remedy may or may not be implied; if it is implied, .it is said that the
defendant is liable under the tort for breach of statutory duty. The most C
familiar example of this arises in relation to those areas of industrial safety
legislation which have traditionally imposed criminal penalties upon an
employer for breach of safety provisions, but have given no·express tortious
remedy to an employee injured by such a breach. Groves v. Lord Wilbome,
(1884) 2 Q.B. 402 is a leadi!lg authority in support of that liability. At page D
45, he has stated on "Inferring the tort of breach of statutory duty;
presumptions and principles of construction" that breach of duty is of
considerable practical importance in view of the volume of legislation made
by Parliament and there are ·obvious advantages to be gained from any
technique which assists in the prediction of results. The criticism of the
presumptions niust be set against the fact that they are of considerable .E
antiquity and were approved in Lord Diplock's seminal speech in Lonrho
Ltd. v. Shell Petroleum Co. Ltd., (1982) AC 173.

That the words in the judgment cannot be construed as in the statute
and the presumptions play only limited role. They will yield to competing F
evidence for the contrary result which is found in the statute. The use of
presumption in relation to issues of breach of duty should not be surprising.
The problem is not the normal one faced by those who have to construed
statutes of attributing the particular meaning of form of words. It is the
more difficult one of discerning the intention of the legislature on a matter G
which bas not ·been dealt with expressly. The use of presumptions is ideal
in such a case. A presumption is, in effect, a judicial pronouncement that
a particular result is to be assumed unless the contrary is stated with
"" ·-,.
precision. At page 50, it is stated on the. "Obligations imposed to protect a
Rarticular class of persons" that if a statutory obligation or prohibition was
imposed for the benefit of protection of a particular class of persons a H
338 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997) 1 S.C.R.
i 'i
A presumption will arise that the tort of breach of statutory duty is to be
inferred. This presumption is an exception to the presumption of a non-
actionability derived.frompositive act. It, therefore, only applies to a statute
which provides its own enforcement machinery.

Thi~ presumption requires the ·statute to be interpreted to see
B whether it was intended to benefit the interests of the public as a whole or
a defined group of members of the public. At page 51, he has stated that
presumptions are not decisive. When it has been decided which presump-
tion applies to the case, it will still be necessary for the court to review the
statute in question in order to determine whether tlfe prima facie refult is
c to be upheld. The answer must depend upon a consideration of the whole
Act and the circumstances including the pre-existing law in which it was
enacted. In the conclusion, it is stated at page 54 that the most significant
problems stem from the difficulty of deciding whether a sufficient alterna-
tive remedy exists to invoke the presumption of non-actionability and in
determining whether a defined class which is intended to have enforceable
D ...
rights vested in it can be identified. Existing presumption allows sufficient
freedom of manoieuvre for courts to ensure that .sensible decisions are
reached. If the courts were to regard statutes containing no enforcement t-
machinery and all other duties over which they had any daub~ as being
passed in the public interest, rather than as intended to vest rights in a
E defined class of private individuals; were to regard the existence of stand-
ard common law and administrative law remedies as raising the presump-
tion of non-actionability and were to keep Lord Diplock's concept of rights
vested in the public for highly exceptional cases, the results would not be
very different from those reached by the existing cases. However, the
.,...
chance of a new area of breach of statutory duty appearing would be
F
effectively eliminated. There are, of course, great practical problems in
ensuring that the judiciary adopts a common approach of this kind. It could
probably only be achieved as a result of an authoritative st_a tement given
..
by the House of Lords.

G Michael A Jones on Torts (Fourth Edition) 1995 (Lawman (India)
Private Limited) in Chapter II states under the heading "Negligence : duty
of care", that as a tort, negligence consists of a legal duty to take care and
breach of that duty by the defendant causes damage to the plaintiff. Duty
-~ ...
determines whether the type of loss suffered by the plaintiff in the par-
H ticular way in which it occurred can ever be actionable. Breach of duty is
RAJKOTM~ICIPALCORPN. v. ~NJULBE~ JAYANTILAL(RAMASWAMY. J.l 339

concerned with the standard of care that ou~ht to have adopted in the A
circumstances, and whether the defendant's conduct fell below that stand-
ani, i.e.; whether he was careless. The djvision of negligen.ce into duty,
breach and consequent damage is convenient for the purpose of exposition
but it can be confusing because the issues will often overlap. He has
elaborated the general principles, viz., the neighbourhood principle as laid
B
down in Donoghue v. Stevension, (1932) AC 562 and has stated at page 27
that the result would seem to be that factors which formerly might have
> been considered at the second stage of Lord Wilberforce's test, policy
considerations which ought to 'negative, or to reduce or to limit the scope
of the duty', should be taken into account at an earlier point when deciding
whether a relationship of proximity between plaintiff and defendant exists. c
The second stage of the te!\t will apply only rarely, i.e., in a limited category
of cases where, notwithstanding that a case of negligence is made out on
the proximity basis, public policy requires that there should be no liability.
Trus new approach represents a sruft of emphasise rather than a new
substantive test for the existence of a duty of care. In future, rather than D
starting from a prima facie assumption that where a defendant's careless-
ness causes foreseeable damage, a duty of care will exist, subject to policy
considerations which may negative such a duty. The courts will determine
the duty issue on a case by case basis, looking in particular at the nature
of the relationship between parties to determine whether it is sufficiently
proximate. That question is of an intensely pragmatic character, well suited E
· for gradual development but requiring most careful analysis. The follo\ving
requirements must be satisfied before a duty of care is held to exist :

(i) foreseeability of the damage;

(ii) a sufficiently proximate relationship between the parti~; and F

(iii) even where {i) and (ii) are satisfied it must be just an
rea'ionable to impose such a duly.

At page 30, he has stated relationship of "Foreseeability and
proximity" thus : The concept of foreseeability, i.e., what a hypothetical G
reasonable man would have foreseen in the circumstances, is ubiquitous in
. -f the tort of negligence. It is the foundation of the neighbour principle, but
it is also used as a test of breach of duty and remoteness of damage. The
fact that particular consequences were unforeseeable may lead to the
conclusion that the defendant's behaviour was not careless and even where H
340 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1997] 1 S.C.R.
- -+-
A negligence is patent, damag~ of an unforeseeable kind will be regarded as
too remote and therefore not actionable. This is partly related to the notion
of fault liability. It can hardly be said that someone is blameworthy if harm .
to others could not reasonably have been anticipated. (The other standard
to fault liability is whether the conduct was reasonable in the face of
B foreseeable damage). It is important to realise, however, that a
foreseeability is a very flexible concept. One man's reasonable foresight is
another man's flight of fancy, and so the bounds of what is foreseeable can
be stretched or narrowed as the case may be. The likelihood that a
particular event may occur in a given set of circumstances may range from
almost certainty to virtual impossibility, and in deciding whether it was
C foreseeable involves a choice. There is no ftxed point on the graph at which
the law requires people to take account of a possibility. lt is not a to~aliy
unprincipled choice since the degree of foreseeability required may be
varied with the kind and extent of the damage, and the nature of the
relationship between the parties. The loss must be reasonably foreseeable,
D which may mean that it must be foreseeable as a possibility or probable or
more probable than not or likely or very likely. This scope for ambiguity ;

allows the concept of foreseeability to be used as a control mechanism to
admit or deny recovery of damages in certain types of cases. This becomes
most apparent when the courts feel constrained, either by authority or
reasons of policy, to deny liability and do so by relying on an absence of
E reasonable foreseeability which attributes to the reasonable man an abnor-
mal degree <>f myopia.

The proximity is usually used as shorthand for Lord Atkin's neigh-
bour principle. This refers to legal not physical proximity. Physical
F proximity may be relevant in deciding whether the parties should be treated .
as neighbours in law, but it is not an essential requirement. On the
"principle of duty and unforeseeable plaintifr, the word 'duty' is used in,
at ]east, three different senses. First, duty of care may signifying the
recognition of liability for careless conduct in the abstract - is tbis type of
harm occurring in this kind of situation ever actionable? where the courts
G deny liability by holding that there is no duty of care even though· the
neighbour principle appears to be satisfied they are setting the limits of
actionability in negligence as a matter of policy. Foreseeability may be
necessary but it is not a sufficient criterion of liability. Secondly, ever,
where it is accepted that a particular type of loss is capable of giving rise
H to liability in negligence, the court may conclude that the defendant did
RAJKarMUNICIPALCORPN.v. MA"lJULBE..NJAYAI\!IL\L(RAMASWAMY.J.J 341
not owe a duty of care to the particular plaintiff if the plaintiff was A
unforeseeable. The plaintiff cannot rely on a duty that the defendant may
have owed to others. The third sense in which the word duty is sometimes
used is in the context of breach of duty. Where the question is whether the
precautions against a particular risk taken by'the defenda~t fall below the
standard that a reasonable man would have undertaken, the court may ask B
whether the defendant who was under a duty was to take further precau-
tions? Here duty is superfluous, it merely signifies the obligation to be
careful by adopting the standard of care of a reasonable man.

On the principle of "Policy and the function of duty", it is to remem-
ber that the concept of duty adds nothing to the tort of negligence. In C
some circumstances, a person is held liable for the negligent infliction of
damage, and in other circumstances he is not. In the first set of circumstan-
ces it is said that a person owes a duty of care, and in the second set that
there is no duty. Duty is merely the.logicaJ equivalent of actual legal liability
for damage caused by negligence. Thus to say that a duty of care exists is D
to slate as a conclusion that (not as a reason why) this damage ought to
be actionable. It is circle to argue that there is no liability because there is
no duty. Law has always drawn a disti!lction between the infliction of harm
through some positive action and merely allowing harm to occur by failing
to prevent it. This is the distinction between misfeasance and non-
feasance, but it is not always easy to make. In many cases an omission may E
simply be part and parcel of a course of conduct that constitutes a negligent
. way of acting.

In Clerk and Lindsell on Torts (The Common Law Library No. 3)
(Sixteenth Editio~) - London, Sweet & Maxwell, 1989 it is stated in F
Chapter 4, Para 2 "Duty of Care Situation" at page 429 that no action lies
in negligence unless there is damage. In cases of personal. injuries damage
used to be understood to have been inflicted when injury was sustained by
the plaintiff, whether he was aware of it or not. At page 430, he has stated
that the tort of negligence is committed when the damage is sustained, G
however the date of damage is determined. The duty in negligence, there-
fore, is not simply a duty not to act carelessly; it is a duty not to inflict
damage carelessly. Since damage is the gist of the action, what is meant by
"duty of care situation" is that it has to be shown that the courts recognise
as actionable the careless infliction of the kind of damage of which the
plaintiff complains, on the type of person to which he belongs, and by the H
342 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997] 1 S.C.R.
A type of person to which the defendant belongs. It is essential in English
law tltat the duty should be established; the mere fact that a man is injured
by another's act gives in itself no cause of action; if the act is deliberate,
the party injured will have no claim in law' even though the injury is
intentional so long as the other party is merely exercising a legal right; if
B the act involves a lack of due care, again no case of actionable negligence
will arise unless the duty to be careful exists. In most situations it is better
to be careful than careless, but it is quite another thing to elevate all
carelessness into a tort. Whether there is liability in the given situation
depends on there being careless behaviour by the defendant, causation of
damage and foreseeability of that kind of damage to the particular plaintiff.
C At page 436, on the doctrine of "Damage to the person", it is stated that
there is an obvious form of recognised damage and requires no elaboration.
Even while the law remained reluctant to recognise economic loss caused
by careless false statements, it saw no difficulty in recognising liability for
injury to the person caused by them.
D
There is a distinction between misfeasance (positive action) and
non-feasance (omission). Misfeasance is willful, reckless or heedless con-
duct in commission of a positive act lawfully done but with improper
conduct. Non-feasance means non-performance of some act which ought
E to be performed or omission to perform requ~red duty or total neglect of
duty. In the case of misfeasance, the defendant is the author of the source
of danger to cause damage due to careless conduct, to the person/property
of plaintiff. He h~s knowledge that the act may give rise to tort but in the
case of non-feasance several factors require consideration for giving rise
to actionable negligence. -In "The Law of Torts" by John G. Fleming (8th
~·
F Edn.) 1992, at page 435 on the Chapter of 'Public Authorities', the author
has stated that altho~h public authorities enjoy no immunity as such from
ordinary tort ~bility;a protective screen bas long remained in the vestigial
"non-feasance~ rVJe that mere failure to provide a service or bencfil pur-
suant to statutory authority would ordinarily confer no private cause of
G action on persons who thereby suffer loss. In an article ~Affirmative Action
in the law of Tort : The case of the Duty to Warn" published in (1989 ( 48)
Camb. Law journal) at pages 115-116 it is stated that the distinction
between acts (misfeasance) and omissions (non-feasance) sometim~s
referred to as pure omissions, though a fundamental one, is not one which
H is easy to make. F.H. Bohlen suggested that "misfeasance dif{e~s from
RAJKOf MUNICIPAL CORPN. v. MANJULBEN JAY ANTILAL (RAMASWAMY, J.) 343

- ., non-feasance in two respects : in the ~haracter of the conduct complained A
of, and second, in the nature of the detriment suffered in consequence 4
thereof". )'he first aspect relates to the distinction between active mis-
feasance ·and passive inactivity; the second to the distinction between
causing loss and simply failing to confer a benefit. A .defendant who has
inflicted a loss on the plaintiff by his negligent action will be liable for the B
misfeasance. On the other hand, if he has simply allowed harm to occur
without preven.ting it, or failed to confer a benefit on the plaintiff, he will
not be liable, as this is considered to be an omission or non-feasance. The
conferment of such benetits lies in the province of contract, not tort. At
page 117, he states that Tort law has developed in such a way as to allow C
the imposition of liability for injuries that are not easily described as
"damage" or "loss". At page 119, it is further stated that there are, however,
more practicle arguments why misfeasance and non-feasance should be
treated differently. Imposing liability in cases of non-feasance, it is argued,
would be to create liability for an indeterminate class of persons. In D
situations where a warning could have been given or a rescue effected,
there are often a number of people who could have taken the action but
did not. There are difficulties in determining which of them should be
liable. Moreover, it is unfair to pick out one person from a group of equally
culpable wrongdoers. When harm is inflicted by a positive act, the
wrongdoer is readily identifiable in most cases and there is no group of E
wrongdoers from which one person has been arbitrarily selected. At page
120, it is stated that in all tort actions, one of the crucial tasks which a court
has to perform is to determine whether the injury which was suffered by
the plaintiff was or was not reasonably foreseeable by the defendant. While
such assessment of ri~k may be more difficult in some cases of non-feasance F
than it is in cases of misfeasance, it would be no different in substance. At
page 131, it is stated that the circumstances in which liability can arise for
an "omission" are therefore somewhat uncertain and open to· widely differ-
ing interpretations, both broad and narrow. In addition, the outcome of
cases in which an omissions is at is.c;ue may well be the same whether one G
deals with under general principles or under special rules. It may be that
by confining liability for what are conceived of as omissions to specified
circumstances, the courts have attempted to emphasise that such liability
- .., a
will only arise in limited number of situations. But the decisions reached
by the application ·of these special rules often seem artificial and unduly H
344 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997]1 S.C.R.

A.. restrictive and the application of general principles does not necessarily t-
mean that liability will arise in unlimited circumstances. It would still be
necessary to ~>how that there was sufficjent proximity between the parties
and a reasonably foreseeable danger before a duty of care could arise. In
de termining this question, the court could take into account a broad range
B of facts which were relevant and even if the facts suggested that such a duty
did exist, it would still be permissible to consider whether considerations
of policy dictate that the duty should not arise. Thus court would proceed
.J.
~
with caution in ar eas of doubt or difficul.ty. In the conclusion, it is stated -=:::
at page 137 that if cases dealing with a negligent failure to warn were dealt
c with by the principles applied in ordinary negligence actions rather than
by special rules which depend on whether the failure was considered to be
an act or an omission. At page 137, he. concJuded that the distinction
between acts or omissions was developed at a time when the law of
negligence was in a relatively primitive state and it was feared that the
courts would be ovenvhelmed with actions alleging omissions. However,
D
the law of negligence is now considerably mor e sophisticat ed and
"floodgates" arguments at:e given much less credence than they used to be. ...
It can be seen that ordinarily principle of the law of negligence
applies to ·public authorities also. They are liable to damages because by a
E negligent act or failure to act when they are under a duty to act or for a
failure to consider whether to exercise a power conferred on ~hem with the
intention that it would be exercised if and when public interest requires it.
Where the public authority has decided to exer cise a power and has done ~

it negligently a person who has acted in reliance on what the pubHc
authority has done, may have no difficulty in proving that the damages
F
which he has suffered have been caused by the negligence. Where the )o

damage has resulted from a negligent failure to act there may ~e greater
difficulty in proving causation and requires examination in greater detail.
-
The liability in tort is for the damage done, not for damage merely
foreseeable or threatened or imminent. In Donoghue's case, the defendants
G wer e manufacturers of ginger-beer which they bottled. The pursuer had
been given one of their bottles by a friend who had purchased it from a
retailer ·who in turn had purchased it from the defendants. There was no
relationship between the pursuer and the defendants excepting one arising
from the fact that she consumed the ginger-beer they had made and l- -
H bottled. The bottle was opaque, so that it was impossible to see that it
RAJKOTMUNICIPAL CORPN. "· MANJULBEN JAYANTILAL(RAMASWAMY, J.) 345

contained the decomposed remains of a snail. It was sealed and stoppered A
so that it could not be tampered with unlit it was opened in order that the
contents should be drunk. The House of Lords had held that these facts
e!itablished in law a duty to take care as between the defendants· and the
pursuer. The principle laid is thus : "a manufacturer of pn?t!Ucts, which he
sells in such a form as to show that he intends them to reach the ultimate
B
consumer in the form in w~ich they left him wit)l no reasonable possibility
of intermediate examination, and with the knowledge that the ab!ience of
reasonable care in the preparation or putting up of. the products will resu.lt
in an injury to the consumer's life or property, owes a duty to the consumer
to take that reasonable care". There must be, and is, some general con-
ception of relations giving rise to ~ duty of care, of which the particular c
cases found in the books arc but instances. The rule that you are to live
with your neighbour becomes in law a duty that you must not injure your
neighbour. You must take reasonable care to avoid by acts or omissions
which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour.
Who, then, in law, is my neighbour? The answer seems to be persons who 0
arc so closely and directly affected by my act that I ought reaso.nably to
have them in contemplation as being so affeclecl when I am directing my
mind· to the acts or omissions which are called in question. The defendant
must be the author of the source of danger/damage to the person/property.
He must of ex~necessitate rei have knowledge of hidden defect.
E
In Overseens Tanks/zip (U.K.) Ltd. v. Morts Docks and Engineering
Co. Ltd., (1961) AC 3sS Viscount Simonds, speaking for the Judicial
Committee, had Jaid thus at page 425 : "It is, no doubt, proper when
considering tortious liability for negligence to analyse its .elements and to
say that the plaintiff must prove a duty owed t~ him by the defendant, a F
breach of that duty by the defendant, and consequent damage. But there
could be no liability until the damage has been done. It is not the act but
the consequences on which tortious liability is founded for tort. It is vain
t!) isolate the liability from its context and to say that ·B is or is not liable
and then to ask for what damages he is liable. For his liability is in respect
of that damage and no other. If, as admittedly it is, B's liability (culpability) G
depends on the reasonable foreseeability of the consequent damage, how
is that to be determined except by the foreseeability of the damage which
in fa.ct happened ~ the damage in suit?" The duty of care must, therefore,
be with reference to the kind of damage that the plaintiff has suffered and
in deference to the plaintiff or class to which the plaintiff is a member. · H
346 SUPREME COURT REPORTS r1997] 1 S.C.R.
A These cases relate to private law tort.
The proper approach, therefore, is to consider whether a duty of care
situation exists in public law tort which the law ought to recognise and
whether in that situation the defendant's conduct was such that he should
have foreseen the damage that would be inflicted on the plaintiff. As a
B general rule of law, one m<;~n is under no duty to control another so as to
prevent the latter from doing damage to a third. The first question to be
considered is : whether the plaintiff has established necessary relationship
giving rise to the duty of care? The next question is whether there is any
negligenc~ at the time when the act in question was committed? The act l
C complained of must have rational relationship to the damage caused. The
tort of negligence does not depend simply on the question of foreseeability.
Foreseeability is not the sole criteria nor does the fact that the damage is
foreseeable creates any onus. What the court would ask or look at is the
operational structure of the Act. Is this a situation where a duty does exist
D towards the plaintiff or class of persons to whom he belongs keeping in
mind the nature of the functions and the interest of the community. The ,...
·further question would be : whether the damage to the plaintiff is so
foreseeable? In that behalf it must be further seen whether there was
sufficiently proximate relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant.
E In Hedley v. Baxendale, (1854) 9 Ex. 341, the celebrated judgment, the
accident can be said to have been the natural and probable result of the
breach of duty. That principle was accepted in Haynes v. H01wood, (1935)
1 K.B. 146 wherein Greer, L.J. had laid lhus : "If what is relied upon as
novus actus interveniens, is the very kind of thing which is likely to happen
if the want of care which is alleged takes place, the prip.ciple embodied in
F the maxim is no defence. The whole question is whether or not, to use the
words of the leading case, Hadley v. Baxendale, (1854) 9 Ex. 341, the
accident caJ;I be said to be the 'natural and probable result' of the breach ,.
of duty". This principle was further approved by Hou~e of Lords in Dorset
Yacht Co. v. Home Office, (1970) AC 1004 at 1028. The facts there were
G that seven Borstal boys were taken by the officers, in charge of the h<?stel
to an island under the control and supervision of three officers. The boys
left the island at night and boarded. cast adrift and damaged the plaintiffs'
yacht which was moored offshore. The respondents brought action for ·
damages against the Home Office alleging negligence on the part .of the
H officers incharge. The defence was that the office~s had no control over
.>-'

RAJKOfMUNICIPALCORPN.v. MANJULBENJAYANTILALJRAMASWAMY,J.J 347

A
.., .;
the boys. There was no carelessness on their part and that the damage was
too remote. Lord Reid while negativing the defence held that where
~
negligence is involved the Donoghue principle laid down by Lord Atkin
generally applied. Therein the question was of remoteness of causation
between the three agencies involved, viz., the controlling officers, the boys
who caused the damage and the plaintiff wl1o suffe red the damage. The
B
argument of the Attorney General on behalf of the Home Office was that
the officers had no control over the boys. In dealing with that question,
). Lord Reid in his speech had held at page 1027 that "there is an obvious
difference between a case where all the links between the carelessness and
the damage are inanimate so that, looking back after the event, it can be
seen that the damage was in fact the i_nevitable result of the careless act or c
omission and a case where one of the links is some human action. In the
former case, the damage was in fact caused by the careless conduct,
-1
however unforeseeable it might have been at the time that anything like
that would happen. At one time the law was that unforeseeability was no
defence.... But the law now is that there is no liability unless the damage D
was of a kind which was foreseeable. On the other hand, if human action
> (other than an instinctive reaction) is one of the links in the chain, it cannot
be said that, looking back, the damage was the inevitable result of the
careless conduct. No one in practice accepts the possible philosophic view
that everything th_a t liappens was predetermined. Yet it has never been the
E
law that the intervention of human action always prevents the ultimate
da~age from being regarded as haVing been caused by the original care-
lessness. The c6nvenient phrase novus actus interveniens denotes those
cases where ·such action is regarded ·as breaking the chain and preventing
the_damage ·from being ·held to be caused by the careless conduct. But
~ every day there are many cases where: although one of the connecting links F
is deliberate human action, the law has no difficulty in holding that the
defendant's I
conduct caused the plaintiff loss. At page 1030. Lord Reid held
that "..... r( would agree, but there is very good authority for the proposition
that if ~ person performs a statutory duty carelessly so that he causes
I
damage ilo a member of the public which would not have happened, it he G
had performed his duty properly he may be liable". Accordingly it was held
that Home office was liable for damages on account of negligence of the
officers.
.. ..., . . ·.
In Geddis v. Proprietors of Ba_nn Reservoir, (1978) 3 App. Cas. 430
H

.,..
T
348 SUPREME COURT REPORTS {1997)1 S.C.R. ~

A Lord Blackburn said, at pp. 455-456.
. '(

"For I take it, without citing cases, that it is now thoroughly
•
well established that no action will lie for doing that which the ~
legislature has authorised, if it be done without negligence, al-
though it does occasion damage to anyone; but an action does lie
B for doing that which the legislature has authorised, if it be done
negligently."

The reason for this we think, is that legislature deems it to be in the "'
public interest that things, otherwise justifiable should be done, and that
c those who do such things with due care should be immune from liability,
to persons who may suffer thereby. But legislature cannot reasonably be
supposed to have licensed those who do such things to act negligently in
disregard of the interests of others so as to cause them needless damage.
Where legislature confers a discretion the position i" not the same. Then
there may, and almost certainly will, be error~ of judgment in exercising
D such a discretion and legislature cannot be imputed to have intended that ~

members of the public should be entitled to sue in respect of such errors. ~
But there may be case when the discretion is exercised so carelessly or
unreasonably that there bas been no real exercise of the discretion which
legislature has co?-ferred, the person purporting to exercise his discretion
E has acted in abuse or excess of his power. Legislature cannot be supposed \-

to have granted immunity to persons who do that.

In Bourhill v. Young, (1943) AC 92 at 98 Lord Wright had laid that
the "obligee in such duty must be a person or a class definitely ascertained,
and so related by the circumstances to the obliger that the obliger is bound,
F in the exercise of ordinary sense, to regard his interest and his safetY. Only >-
the relation must be not too remote, for remoteness must be hel~ as a
general limitation of the doctrine". The learned law Lord further
elaborated that "I doubt whether in view of the variations of circumstances
which may exist it js possible for profitable to lay down any hard and fast
principle beyond the test of remoteness as applied to the particular case".
G
In Geddis's case (supra). Lord Hathe~ley had stated at page 449 that
"We are not bound, nor entitled, to suppose that they will willfully do injury
by the exercise of the legislative powers which have been given to them;
but it appears to me clearly and plainly that they should use every precau-
.-. -
H tion, by the exercise either of their powers created by the Act of Parliament
RAJKOT MUNICIPAL CORPN. v. MANJULBEN JAYANTILAL(RAMASWAMY, J.J 349

-;;
itself, or of their common law powers, to prevent damage and injury being A
done to others through whose property the works or operations are carried
on..... ".

On the law of negligence of economic laws inAnns v. Merton London
Borouglt, (1978) AC 7213 Lord Wilberforce's dictum of two test theory B
which had contributed for the development of law of negligence wa<;
elaborated and held at page 751 thus : Through the trilogy of cases in this
~ House, Donoghue v. Stevenson, (1932) AC 562, Hedley Byme & Co. Ltd. v.
Heller & Partners Ltd., (1964) AC 465 and Dorset Yacht Co. v. Home Office,
(1970) AC 1004, the position has now been reached that in order to
esta~lish that a duty of care arises in a particular situation, it is not c
necessary to bring the facts of that situation within those of previous
situations in which duty of care has been held to exist. Rather the question
has to oe approached in two stages. First one has to ask whether, as
between the alleged wrongdoer and the person who has suffered damage,
is there a sufficient relationship of proximity or neighbourhood such that, D
in lhe reasonable contemplation of the former, carelessness on his part may
~
be likely to cause damage to the latter - in which case a prima facie duty
of care arises. Secondly, if the first question is answered affumatively, it is
necessary to consider whether there are any considerations which ought to
negative, or to reduce or limit the scope of the duty or the class of person
to whom it is owed or the damages to which a breach of it may give rise". E
That two stage test theories now stand overruled by a seven-member House
in Murphy v. Brentwood District Counci~ (1991) 1 AC 398. Lord Keith of
Kinkel held at page 461 stated thus· : "I observe at this point that the
two-stage test ha<> not been accepted as stating a universal applicable
principle. Reservations about it were expressed by myself in Governors of F
'"' the Peabody Donation Fund v. Sir Lindsay Parkinson & Co. Ltd., (1985) AC
210, 240, by Lord Brandon of Oakbrook in Leight and Sillavan Ltd. v.
Aliakmon. Shipping Co. Ltd., (1986) AC 785, 815 and by Lord Bridge of
Harwich in Cu"alt v. Northern Ireland Co-ownership Housing Association
Ltd., (1987) AC 718." In Council of the Shire of Sutherland v. Heymand,
(1985) 157 CLR 424 the High Court of Atistralia declined to follow Anns G
and Yuen Kun Yeu v. Attomey General of Hong Kong, (1988) AC 175, 191.
Accordingly, it was overruled by separate speeches of the learned Law
- ~·
Lords. Lord Bridge of Harwich at ·page 480 held that "a second difficulty
Will ·arise where the latent defect is not discovered until it causes the
sudden and total -collapse of the building, which occurs when the building H
350 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997]1 S.C.R.

A is temporarily unoccupied and causes no damage to property except to
~·
the building itself. The building is now no longer capable of occupation
and hence cannot be a danger to health or safety. It seems a very strange
result that the building owner shcmld be without remedy in this situation if
he would have been able to recover from the local authority the full cost
B of repairing the building if only the defect had been discovered before the
building fell down."

, In Coparo Industries Plc. v. Dickman & Ors., (~990) 2 AC 605 at 632
where the facts were that plaintiff which was a public limited company and
had accomplished the take over of FPCC. It brought an action against its
C Directors alleging fraudulent misrepresentation against its auditors claim·
ing that they were negligent in carrying out audit and in making the report
which they were required to do within the terms of Sections 236 and 237
of the Companies Act. The plaintiff company relied upon the audit report
and _suffered loss. In that behalf, it wa<; held by Lord Oliver of Aylmerton
D that 'The question is, 1 think, one of some importance when one comes to
consider the existence of that essential relationship between the appellants
and the respondent to which, in any discussion of the ingredients of the
tort of negligent, there is accorded the description·"proximity'' for it is now
clear from a series of decisions in this House that, at least so far as
concerns the law of the United Kingdom, the duty of care in tort depends
E not solely upon the existence of the essential ingredient of the foreseeability
of damage to the plaintiff but upon its coincidence with a further ingredient
to which has been attached tbe label "proximity" and which was described
by 1;-ord Atkin in the course of his speech in Donoghue v. Stevenson, (1932)
AC 562, 581 as : "such close and direct relations that the act complained
F of directly affects a person whom the person alleged to be bound to take
care would know would be directly affected by his careless act." At page
633, it was further stated that "..... the postulate of a simple duty to avoid
any harm that is, with hindsight, reasonably capable of being foreseen
becomes untenable without the imposition of some intelligible limits to
keep the law of negligence within the bounds of common sense and
G practicality. Those limits have bee~ found by the requirement of what bas
been called a "relationship of proximity'' between plaintiff and defendant
and by the imposition of a further reqUcirement that the attachment of
liability for harm whiCh bas occurred be "just and reasonable". But although
the cases in which the courts have imposed or withheld liability are capable
H of an approximate categorisation, one looks in vain for some common
RAJKOT MUNICIPAL CORPN. v. MANJIJLBEN JAYANTILAL [RAMASWAMY, J.] 351

::> denominator by which the existence of the essential relationship can be A

-- tested. Indeed it is difficult to resist a conclusion that what have been
trea:ted as three separate requirements are, at least in most cases, in fact
merely facets of same thing, for in some cases the degree of foreseeability
is such that it is from that alone that the requisite proximity can be
deduced,whilst in others the absence of that essential relationship can most
B
rationally be attributed simply to the courts view that it wouLd not be fair
and reasonable to hold the defendant responsible. "Proximity" is, no doubt,
;.
a convenient expression so long as it is realised that it is no more than a
label which embraces not a definable concept but merely a description of
circumstances from which, pragmatically, the courts conclude that a duty
of care exists." c
In Hill v. Chief Constable of West Yorkshire, (1989) 1 AC 191, the
plaintiffs 20 year old daughter was attacked at night in a city street of the
police area of which the defendant's was chief constable and died from her
injuries. Her attacker who was convicted of her murder was alleged to have D
\. committed series of offences of murder and attempted murder against
yo!-lllg women in the area. Action was laid by the appellant·mother claiming
damages for the negligence in apprehending the accused and for the faulty
investigation. The trial Court quashed the action on the ground of Jack of
· cause of action and in appel!-1 it was confirmed. Lord Keith of Kinkel
speaking for the House, had held that "where an individual member of the E
police force in the course of carrying out their .functions of controlling ~nd
keeping down the inci~ence of crime owed a duty of care to individual
members of the public who may suffer injury of person or property through

- the activities of criminals such as to result in liability for damages on the
ground of negligence to anyone who suffers such injury by reason of the F
breach of that duty. Having posed that question, the House held that the
general sense of public duty which motivates police forces is unlikely to be
appreciably reinforced by the imposition of such liability so far as concerns
their function in the investigation and suppression of crime. From time to
time they make mistakes in the exercise of that function, but it is not to be G
doubted that they apply their best endeavors to the performance of it. ln
some instances, the imposition of liability . may lead to the exercise of a
function being carried on in a detrimentally defensive frame of mind. The
possibility of this happening in relation to the investigative operations of
the police, cannot be excluded. Further it would be reasonable to expect
that if potential liability were to be imposed it would be not uncommon for H
352 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997) 1 S.C.R.
A actions to be raised against police forces on the ground that they had f~ed
to catch some criminal as soon as they might have done, with the result
that he went on to commit further crimes. While some such actions might
involve allegations of a simple and straightforward type of failure - for
example that a police officer negligently tripped and fell while pursuing a
B burglar - others would be likely to enter deeply into the general nature of
a police investigation, .as indeed the present action would seek to do."

. Smitlt & Ors. v. Littlewoods Organisation Ltf)., (1987) AC 241 is a case
of omission in a private law tort relating to economic laws. The defendants
purchased a cinema building with the intention of demolishing it and
C . replacing by a super-market. The cinema after doing some work remained .
neglected and unattended. Security of the building was from time to time
overcome by children and young persons and vandalism took place in and
around it including an attempt to set fire to some old films in an adjoining
close and an attempt to light a fire in the cinema itself. On July 5, 1976, a
D fire was deliberately started in the cinema by children or teenagers, as a
result of which the cinema burned down and an adjacent cafe and billiard
saloon and a nearby church belonging to the users were seriously damaged.
An action was brought against the defendants for damages claiming that
the damages to the property was caused due to defendants' negligence in
not driving off the children causing the damage. The House rejecting the
E claim, speaking through Lord Brandon of Oakbrook had held that there
should be "careless breach of duty'' and that "I am of opinion that the
occurrence of the behaviour in question was not reasonably foreseeable by
Littlewoods. I conclude, therefore, that the general duty of care owed by
Littlewoods to the appellants did not encompass the specific duty referred
F to above". Lord Griffiths, while concurring at page 251 in his speech held
that "common-sense view should be taken". Lord Mackay of Casbfern,
approving Lord Macmillan's speech in Bourhil/ v. Younb'. (1943) AC 92104
quoted at page 260 that "the duty to take care is the duty to avoid doing
or omitting to do anything the doing or omitting to do which may have as
G its reasonable an..! probable injury to others, and the duty is owed to those
to whom injury may reasonably and probably be anticipated if the duty is
not observed". As to the negligence, approving Lord Romer, the learned
Jaw-Lord, held that "In my opinion, the appellants can only be fixed with
liability if it can be shown that there materialised a risk that ought to have
been within the appellants' reasonable contemplation". At page 272, it was
H further stated that ''we are therefore thrown back to the duty of care. But
RAJKOTMUNICIPALCORPN. "· MANJULBEN JAYANTILALIRAMASWAMY, J.J 353
one thing is clear, and that is that liability in negligent for harm caused by A
the deliberate wrong doing of others cannot be founded simply upon
foreseeability that the pursuer will suffer loss or damage by reason of such
wrongdoing. 'f;here is no such general principle. We have, therefore, to
identify the circumstances in which such liability may be imposed". ''There
was no evidence that Littlewoods (the defenders) knew of these matters" B
(i.e. of the various intrusions by vandals preceding the one when the fire
was started). "Ullless they had a duty to inspect there is no basis on which
it can be alleged that they ought to have known of them." It was further
observed that ".... the question whether, in all the circumstances described
in the evidence, a reasonable person in the position of Littlewoods was
bound to anticipate as probable, if he to~k no action to keep these premises C
lockfast, that, in a comparatively short time before the premises were
demolished, they would be set on fire with consequent risk to the neigh-
bouring properties is a matter for the judge of fact to determine." At page
279, it was concluded thus : '1 wish to emphasise that I do not think that
the problem in these cases can be solved simply through the mechanism of D ·
foreseeability. When a duty is cast upon a person to take precautions
against the wrongdoing of third p_arties, the ordinary standard of
foreseeability applies; and so the possibility of such wrongdoing does not
have to be very great before liability is imposed. I·do not myself subscribe
to the opinion that liability for the wrongdoing of others is limited because
of the unpredictability of human conduct". The standard of sctUtiny by E
courts and applications of the negligence, proximity and remoteness would
be much more rigorously examined in public lay.' tortious liability.

In London Passenger Transport Board v: Upson & Am:, (1949) AC
~ 155 at 168, Lord Wright in his speech had stated that a claim for damages F
for breach of statutory duty intended to protect a person in the position of
a particular plaintiff is a specific common law right whkh is not to be
confused in essence with a claim for negligence. The statutory right has its
origin in the statute, but the particular remedy of an action for damages is
given by a common law in order to make effective, for the benefit of insured
plaintiff, his right to the performance by the defendant of the dcfendant's· G
statutory duty. It is an effective sanction. It is not a claim in negligence in
the strict or ordinary sense. lt is a common law action based on the purpose
• .._ of the statute.

In Scovin v. Wzse (Norfolk CounO' Counci4 17lird Party), (1994) 3 All H

'
354 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997}1 S.C.R.
A ER 467 the Court of Appeal was to consider the duty of highway authority . .~
to remove the obstruction of visibility and to cut the trees. The plaintiff was
injured when his motor-cycle collided with a car driven by the defendant
who was turning out of a side road. The defendant's visibility was limited
at about 1.00 feet because a bank on adjacent railway land obstructed her
B view of the corner. The highway authority had been issued notice on earlier
occasion to have it removed but it failed to effect it. Under the Highways
Act, 1980, action was laid for damages against the highway authority. It was
held by Court of Appeal that the statutory duty under Section 41 of 1980
Act did not extend to carry out work on land not forming part . of the
highway and highway authority was not held liable for the damages. It was
C held that the plaintiff was not depending upon the exercise of the pc wer
is
that had caused damage. The ~xistence of that power merely one of the
circumstances which enabled the defendant to claim that the ·highway
authority came under the duty of care.

D In Bwto11 v. West Suffolk County Council, (1960) 2 ..WLR 745, a
highway authority carried out certain drainage work on a road to improve
its conditions since it was inadequate to prevent flooding when the road
was subjected to heavy :ain. It was the practice uf the roadman to put red
flags by day and red lights by night whenever there was flooding which
could be dangerous to vehicles. In December 1954, a(ter heavy rain .and
E flooding, after the water had subsided, a patch of ice formed on that part
of the road which tended to keep damp because of inadequate drainage.
The red flags and red lights were put off by the roa:dman when the water
had subsided. The plaintiff was driving his car. along the road when it ran
on to the patch of ice causing it to skid and crash into a tree. The plaintiff
F was injured and the car was damaged. In an action for damages though the
trial Court granted the decree, on appeal, it was held that failure to provide
adequate drainage by not doing sufficient work was an act of non-feasance
for which' the highway authority was not liable, but if the work was done
negligently and created a new danger, the Corporation was liable. It was
held that there was no duty on the defendant to warn the plaintiff of the
G danger of ice being on the road, and, therefore, the claim of the plaintiff
for damages failed. The principle laid down in Sheppard v. Mayor, Alder-
men and Burgesses of the Borough of Glossop, (1921) 3 King's Bench 132
was approved and applied. :.. ..
H
•
In Sheppard's case (supra), a street was vested in an urban authority
,
.
RAJKOTMUNICIPALCORPN. v~MAi'~IJ ULBENJAYANnLAL[RAMASWAMY.J.) 355
under the Public Authorities Act,· 1875. On D ecember 25, 1918 at 11.30 A
p.m., the plaintiff was going home by the street missed his way, without
negligence strayed on to the private land, and fell over the retaining wan·
into the street and was injured. In an action against the authority for
negligence in the performance of an alleged duty to light the street suffi-
ciently under Section 161 of the Public H ealth Act, 1875, it was held that B
the authority have a discretion and the Act imposes them no obligation to
light the streets in their districts. Consequently, the defendant who had
begun were not bound to continue to light the street and that having done
upto 9 p.m~, they have done nothing to make the street dangerous. They
were under no obligation whether by lighting or otherwise to give warning C
of the danger. It was, therefore, held that the defendants were not liable,
for damages. In Bolton's case (supra), a cricket ground was enclosed on
the side by the seven feet fence. When the play was on in the cricket ground
abutting the highway, a person being on a side road or residential house
was passing that way. The ball hit by a player of the cricket ground went D
upto 70 yards from the fence and 100 yards from the pace where injury
occur~ed. In a suit for damages, the House of Lords held that the club was
not liable io damages to the injured person, whether on the ground of
negligence or nuisance. Lord Porter at page 858 had held that undoubtedly,
one would know that bitting of a cricket ball out of the ground was an event E
which might occur and, therefore, there was a conceivable'possibility that
someone would be hit by it. But so extreme an obligation of care cannot be
imposed in all cases. If it were no one could safely drive a motor car since
the possibility of an accident could not be overlooked and if it occurred
some stranger might well be injured, however careful the driver might be.
Dictum of Lord Thankerton in Bourhill's case, namely, "sucb reasonable F
care as will "avoid the risk of injury to such person as he can reasonably
foresee might be injured by failure to exercise such reasonable care" was
applied and held that in the circumstances it would not possible to foresee
the injury to the person passing ~n the highway. Lord Porter had held that
it is not enough that the event should be such as can reasonably be G
foreseen. The further result that injury is likely to follow must also be such
as a reasonable man would contemplate, before he can be convicted of
actionable negligence. Nor is the remote pos~ibility of injury occurring
enough; there must be sufficient probability to lead a reasonable man to
anticipate it. The existence of some risk is an ordinary incident of life, even H
356 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997) 1 S.C.R.
A when all due care has been, as it must be, taken. Lord Normand held at
page 860 that it is not the law that precautions must be taken against every
peril that can be foreseen by the timorous. The standard of care is that a
person is bound to foresee only the reasonable and probable consequences
of the failure to take care judged by the standard of the ordinary
B reasonable man. Jt is, therefore, not enough for the plai!ltiff to say that the
occupiers of the cricket ground could have foreseen the possibility that a
ball might be hit out of the ground by a batsman and might injure people
on the road, she must go further and say that they ought, as reasonable
men, to have foreseen the probability of such an occurrence. Lord R eid at
C page 865 has held that the definition of negligence laid by Alderson B. in
Blyth v. Birmingham Watenvorks Co., (1856) 11 Ex. 781 at 784 that
"Negligence is the omission to do something which a reasonable man,
guided upon those considerations which ordinarily regulate the conduct of
human affairs, would do, or doing something which a prudent and
D reasonable m~ would not do". "I think that reasonable men do in fact take
into account the degree of risk and do not act on bare possibility as they
would if the rl.sk were more substantial. Lord Macmillan's dictum in
Bourhill's case (supra) that "The duty to take care is the duty to avoid doing
or omitting to do anything the doing or omitting to do which may have as
its reasonable and probable consequence injury to others, and the duty is
E owed to those to whom injury may reasonably and probably be anticipated,
if the duty is not observed". It was held that the Court must be careful to
place itself in the position of the person charged with the duty and to
consider what he or she should have reasonably anticipated as a natural
and probable consequence of neglect, and not to give undue weight to the
F fact that a distressing accident has happened. The learned law Lord also ~·
approved the dictum of Lord Dunedin Fordon v. Harcowt-Rcvington,
(1932) 146 L .T. 391 at 392 that "there is such an extremely unlikely extent
that l do not think any reasonable man could be convicted of negligence if
he did not take into account the possibility of such an occurrence and
G provide ag~l it": At page 867, it was further held that "what a man must
not do and what, I think, a careful man tries not to do is to create a risk
which is substantial. Of course, there are numerous cases where special
circumstances require that a higher standard shall be observed and where
that is recognised by the law. But I do not think that his case comes within
H any such special category, It was argued that this case comes within the
.RAJKOTMUNICIPAL CORPN: v. MANJULBEN JAYANTILAL [RAMASWA.).!Y, J.) 357

principle in Rylands v. Fletcher, (1869) LR 3 HL 330, but I agree with your A
. Lordship that there is no substance in this argument. In my judgment, the
test to be applied her~ is whether the risk of damage to a person on the
road was so small that a reasonable man in the position of the appellant,
considering the matter from the point of view of safety, would have thought
it right Lo refra!n from taking steps to prevent the danger." It was accord- B
ingly held that the cricket Board was nol liable for damages.

In Baxter v. Stockton-on-tees Corporation, (1959) 1 Queen's Bench
Division 441, the plaintiff's husband was killed when a motor-cycle which
he was riding at night on a highway collided with the kerb of an approach
island adjacent to a roundabout. In a suit far damages for the death of her C
husband against the statutory highway authority for its failure to provide
lighting at the approach road, Court of Appeal held that on the assumption
that the defendants were in any way at fault in respect of the approach
island that fault consisted exclusively of non-feasance and that accordingly
if the defendants were to do held liable-it could only be by virtue of some D
express words in the Act under which the road became vested in them. But
nothing was found in Section 32 .of the Local Government Act, 1929 to
impose on an urban authority taking over a county road any special
obligation as to the maintenance of the road so as to exclude the ordinary
immunity from civil action in respect of mere non-feasance. Therefore, the
action of the plaintiff must necessarily fail. In Wilson v. Kingston Upon-
4
E
Thames Corporation, (1949) 1 ELR 679, a hole in an asphalt roadway was
temporarily repaired by the highway authority by filling . it with tar·
macadam. The road again became in need of repair, but it was not done.
A cyclist riding over the hole was thrown from his cycle and injured. He
laid the suit for damages, it was held by Court of Appeal that the condition F
of the road was due to non-feasance and not due to misfeasance in
repairing the road negligently and, therefore, the highway authority was not
liable for damages.

Let us consider the cases relating to duty of care in planting and G
maintenance of the trees. In England, every owner of the house or the
Corporation, has statutory duty to plant trees and oftheir upkeep. In that
behalf the case law is as under :

In Noble v. Harrison, (1926} 2 King's. Bench Division 332, a branch
of a beech tree growing on the defendant's land overhung at a height of 30 H
358 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997] 1 S.C.R.
A feet above the ground. In fine weather the branch suddenly broke, fell upon
the plaintiffs vehicle, and damaged it. In an action by the plaintiff claiming
in respect of damage to his vehicle, the county court found that neither the
defendant nor his servants knew that the branch was dangerous on that the
fnicture was 'd ue to a latent defect not discoverable by any reasonably
B careful inspection. Reversing the judgment of the country court, it was held
that the Ryland's case, principle had no application inasmuch as a tree was
not in itself ·a dangerous thing and to grow trees was one of the natural
uses of the soil. Mere fact that the branch overhung the tree passage of the
highway and although the branch proved to be a danger the defendant was
C not liable, inasmuch as he had not created the danger and had no
knowledge, actual or imputed, of its existence. The principle laid down in
Barket v. Herbert, (1911) 2 K.B. 633 was applied. At page 338, Rowlatt J.
held that I see no ground for holding that the owner is to become an insurer
of nature, or ~hat default is to be imputed to him until it appears, or would
D appear upon proper inspection, that nature can no longer be relied upon.
In Cunliffe v. Bankes, (1945) 1 All E .L.R. 459, a. tree growing on the
defendant's estate fell, owing to its diseased condition, across a highway
running besides the estate. The plaintiffs husband was riding a motor-cycle
along the highway when without any negligence on his part, he collided
with the tree and died of his injuries. The plaintifrs action based on
E negligence was brought under the Fatal Accidents Act, 1846 and the Law
Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1934. The trial Judge found the
defendant liable. On appeal, reversing the judgment, the court of Appeal,
House of Lords held that a person is not liable for nuisance constituted by
tlie state of his property· unless {a) he caused it or by the neglect of some
F duty he allows it to arise or when it has arisen without his own act or
default, he omits to remedy "it within a reasonable time after he became or
ought to have become aware of it. Therefore, the defendant was not liable.
In Gaminer & Anr. v. Northem & London !rtvestment TnJ.St, Ltd., (1950) 2
. ALL ELR 486, the respondents were lessees of a block of flats in London
G street which they were occupied by the tenants. In the forecourt of the flats,
there was a row of e)gt trees. On April 7, 1947, the appellants were driving
past the flats when one of the trees feUon their car, wrecking it and injuring
the appellants. The tree that was fallen was proved to have bee n due to a
diseas~ of the roots, which was of long standing but the disease had not
H taken a normal course and there was no mdication from the condition of
RAJKOT MUNICIPAL CORPN. v. MANJULBEN JAYAN11LAL (RAMASWAMY, J.) 359

the tree above ground that it was affected by the disease. The tree was A
about 130 years old and according to the evidence it was of the middle age.
It was never lopped, topped or pollarded. The action was laid for damages
for omission to take proper care of the trees. The House of Lords, after a
detailed examination of the evidence, held that when there was no evidence
that the tree was affected with a disease mere possibility of the taking B
protection was not sufficient as spoken by the expert w,itnesses. It was,
therefore, held that the respondents were not liable for damages. Lord
Normand at page 494 held that what would a reasonable and prudent
landlord have done about the tree? There is more than enough evidence
of what scientific experts would have thought or done, but there is a paucity C
of evidence about what a reasonable and prudent landlord would have
done. It was held that there was no evidence to conclude that a reasonable
prudent landlord would inspect or cause to be inspected any good sized
tree growing in a place where unsuspecting person may lawfully approach
it and to take any protection since there ~ no external evidence of any
injury. Lord Radcliffe at page 501 had held that the accepted test that D
liability only begins when.there is apparent in the tree a sign of danger has
the advantage that it seems to ignore, or to a large extent to ignore, the
disdnction belWeen the spot that is much and the SJX?t that it little fre-
quented but, on the. other hand, I think that it does end by making the
standard of the expert tl:ie test of liability. Even anyone can own a tree, E
there is no qualifying examination, but to how many people in this country
can be credited as much as general knowledge as will warn them that a
tree's top is unusually. large, or that it is, in fact, diseased, dangerously or
otherwise?"
F
It would thus be seen that each case requires to be examined in the
light of the special Circumstances, viz. whether the defendant owed a duty
of care to the plaintiff whether the plaintiff is a person or a class of persons
to whom the defendant owed a duty of care, whether the defendant was
negligent in performing that duty or omitted to take such reasonable care G
in the performance of the duty, whether damage must have resulted from
that particular duty of care which the defendant owed to the particular
plaintiff or class of persons. Public authorities discharge public obligations
to the public at large. Therefore, it owes duty of care at common law to
avoid causing present or imminent danger to the safety of the plaintiff or
a class of persons to whom the plaintiff belongs. It is a statutory duty of H
360 SuPREME COURT REPORTS [1997] 1 S.C.R.
A care under common law which could give rise to actionable claim in the
suit of the individual and it is capable of co-existence along side a statutory
duty. The duty of care imposed on a local authority by law may not be put
beyond what the statute expects of the local authority or Corporation to
perform the duty. The tort of insuperable negligence would emerge from
B imminent danger created by positive act. But the duty of care imposed on
local authority by law my be gauged from the circumstances in which and
the conditions subject to which the duty of care has been imposed on the
statutory authority. The imminent danger theory must be viewed keeping
at the back of mind the act or conduct creating the danger to the plaintiff
or the class of persons to which he be~ongs and that by negligent conduct
C the defendant causes damage to the property or person of the plaintiff,
though the defendant is not in know of the danger. The defendant also in
given circumstances, must owe special responsibility or proximity imposing
foreseeable duty to care, to safeguard the plaintiff from the danger or to
prevent it from happening.
D But when the defendant was not in know of the discoverable defect
or danger and it caused the damage by accident like sudden fall of the tree,
it would be difficult to visualise that the defendant had knowledge of the
danger and he omitted to perform the duty or care to prevent its fault.
There would be no special relationship between the statutory authority and
· E the plaintiff who is a re~n:ote . uscr of the foot-path or the street by the side
of which the trees were planted, unless the defendant is aware of the
condition of the tree that it is likely to fall on the footpath on which the
plaintiff/class of persons to which he belong frequents it. The defendant by
his non feasance is not responsible for the accident or cause of the death
F since admittedly there was no visible sign that the tree was affected by
disease. It had fallen in a still condition of weather.
..
Therefore, there must exist some proximity of relationship,
foreseeability of danger and duty of care to be performed by the defendant
to avoid the accident or to prevent danger to person of the deceased
G Jayantilal. The requisite degree of proximity requires to be established by
the plaintiff. in the circumstances in which the plaintiff was injured. The
plaintiff would not succeed by establishing that the accident bad occurred
due to· negligence, i.e., the defendant's failure to take reasonable care as
ordinary prudent man, under the circumstances, would have taken and the
H liability in tort to pay damages bad arisen. If the defendant had become
RAJKOTMUNICIPAL CORPN. v. MANJULBeN JA YANTILAL(RAMASWAMY, 1.1 361
aware of the decayed condition or that the tree was affected by disease and A
)
taken no action to prevent the accident, it would be actionable, though for
') non-feasance. Mere appearance of danger gives rise to no liability. Actual
damage had occurred before tortious liability for negligence arose. When
the defendant is under statutory duty to take care not to create latent
source of physical danger to the property or the person who in the
B
circumstances is considered to be reasonable foreseeable as likely to be
affected thereby, the defendant would be liable for tort of negligence. If
;.. , the latent defect causes actual physical damages to the person, the defen-
dant is liable to damages for tortious liability. The negligent act or omission
of the statutory authority must be examined with reference to the statutory
provisions, creating the duty and the resultant consequences: The negligent c
act or omission must be specifically directed to safeguard the public or
some sections of the public to which the plaintiff was a member, from the
particular danger which has resulted.

The exercise of power/omission must have been such that duty of
D
care had arisen to avoid danger. Foreseeability of the danger or injury
)
alone is not sufficient to conclude that duty of care exists. The fact that
one could foresee that a failure of the authority to exercise a reasonable
:f care would cause loss to the passers-by itself does not mean that such a
duty of care should. be imposed on the statutory authority. The statutory
authority exercises its public law duty or function. It would be wrong to E
think that the local authority always owes responsibility and continues to
have the same state of affairs. It would be an intolerable burden of duty of
care on the authority; otherwise it would detract the authority from per-
forming its normal duties. It he were to gauge the risk of litigation, he
.. would avoid doing public duty of planting and nurturing the trees thinking
--' F
that it would be a heavy burden on the local authority. It would always
cause heavy financial burden on the statutory authority. If the duty of
maintaining constant vigil or verifying or testing the healthy condition of
trees at public places with so many other functions to be performed were
cast on it, the effect would be that the authority would .omit to perform
statutory duty. Duty of care, therefore, must be carefully examined and the G
foreseeability of damage or danger to the person or property must be
co-related to the puWc duty of care to infer that the omission/non-feasance
. gives rise to actionable claim for damages against the defendant.

It is seen that when a person-uses a road or highway, und~r common H
362 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997Jl S.C.R.

A law one has a right to passage over the public way. When the defendant
creates by positive action any danger and no signal or warnings are given'/
. and consequently damage is done, the proximate relationship gets estah'(
lished between the plaintiff and the defendant and the causation is not too
remote. Equally, when the defendant omits to perform a particular duty
B enjoined by t~e statute or does that duty carelessly, there is proximity
between the plaintiff-injured person and the defendant in performance of
the duty and when injury occurs or damage is suffered to _p erson or
property, cause of action arises to enable the plaintiff to claim damages
~-
from the defendant. But when the causation is too remote, it is difficult to
anticipate with any reasonable certainty as ordinary reasonable prudent
C man, to foresee damage or injury to the plaintiff due to causation or
omission on the part of the defendant in the performance or negligence in
the performance of the duty.

The question, therefore, is : whether the respondents in the present
D case have established the three essential ingredients? Statute enjoins a
power to plant trees on the roadsides or in public places. There is no
statutory sanction for negligence in that behalf:· But the question is :
whether the statutory function to plant trees gives rise to duty· of maintain-
ing the trees? In a developing society it is but obligatory on every
householder, when he constructs house and equally for a public authority
E to plant trees' and properly nurture them up in a healthy· condition so as
to protect and maintain the eco-friendly environment. But the question is:
whether the public authority owes a statutory duty towards that class of
persons who frequent and pass and repass on the public highway or road
or the public places? If the local authority/.~tatutory body has neglected to
F perform the duty of maintaining trees in a healthy condition and when
damage, due to fall of the tree occurs, the question emerges whether the
neighbour relationship and proximity of the causation and negligence and
the duty for care towards the plaintiff have been satisfactorily proved to
have existed so as to fasten the defendant with the liability due to tort of
G negligence. It depends on a variety of facts and circumstances. It is difficult
to lay down any set standardsl'or proof thereof. Take for instance, where
a hanging branch of a tree/tree is gradually falling on the ground. The
statutory/local autho-rity fails to take timely action· to have it cut and
removed and one o_f the passers-by dies when the branch/tree falls on him. ·...,..
Though the injured or the deceased has contributed to the negligence for
H the injury or death, the local authority etc. is . equally liable for its
,
RA.I.KOTMUNTC1PALCORPN.v.MANJULBENJAYA"NTILALIRAMASWAMY,J.) 363
negligence/omission in the performance of the duty because the proximity A
)
is anticipated. Suppose a boy not suspec~ng the d<l{lger climbs or reaches
the falling tree and gets hurt, the defendant would be liable for tort of
negligent. The defect is apparent. Negligence is obvious, proximity and
neighbourhood anticipated and lack of duty of care stands established. The
plaintiff, in coMmon law action, is entitled to sue for tort of negligence.
B
The authority wi!J be liable to pay the damages for omission or negligence
in the performance of the duty. Take another instance, where while 'A' is
passing on the road, there is sudden lightning and thunder and 'A' takes
~,

shelter under a tree and the lightning falls on the tree and consequently
' 'A' dies. In this illustration, there is no corresponding obligation or a duty
of care on the part of the Corporation or the statutory authority to warn c.
that 'A' should not take shelter under the tree to avoid harm to him. Take
yet another instance, where road is being laid and there is no warning or
signal and a cyclist or a motor cyclist during night fa lls in the ditch, i.e.
place of repair due to negligence on the part of the defendant. The injury
is caused to the victim/vehicle. The plaintiff is entitled to lay suit for tort
D
of negligence. But in a situation like the present one where the victim
being not aware of the disease/decay, the tree suddenly falls in .a still
~
weather condition, no one can anticipate and it is difficult to foresee that
a tree would fall suddenly and thereby a person who would be passing by
on the road-side, would suffer injury or would die in consequence. The
Corporation or the authority is not liable to be sued for tort of negligence E
since the causation is too remote. Novus actus inconveniens snaps the link
and, therefore, it is difficult to establish lack of care resulting in damage
and foreseeability of the damage. The case in hand falls in this category.
Jayantilal was admittedly passing on the roadside to allend to his office
duty. The tree suddenly fell and he sustained injury and consequently died. F
....... It was difficult to foresee that a tree would fall on him .

The conditions in India have not developed to' such an extent that a
Corporation can keep constant vigil by testing the healthy condition of the
trees in the public places, road-side, highway frequented by passers-by.
There is no duty to maintain regular supervision thereof, though the local G
authority/other authority/owner of a property is under a duty to plant and
maintain the tree. The causation. for accident is too remote. Consequently,
there would be no Common Law right to file Sl'it for tort of negligence. It
... ..... would not be just and proper to fasten duty of care and liability for
' omission thereo( It would be difficult for the local authority etc. to foresee H

..I
~
'"'\
'
\
364 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997) 1 S.C.R.
J=
A such an occurrence. Under these circumstances, it would be difficult to
conclude that the appellant has been negligent in the mainteJ1ance of the 1..
trees planted by it on the road-sides.

The appeal, therefore, succeeds and is allowed accordingly. Judg-
ment ~d decree of the trial Court, as affirmed by the High Court, stands
B set aside. In the facts of the case, we direct that the amount of Rs. 45,000
may not be recovered from the respondents though t~ey arc not entitled
in Jaw to the same, since they are too poor and the amount must have
already been spent out. In view of the trouble taken by Shri Narasimha as
amicus·cwiae, we direct the Corporation to pay him a further sum of Rs.
C 5,000 (Rupees five thousand only) within a period of two months from the
receipt of this order.

v.s.s. Appeal allowed.

I