Smt. Premalatha, teacher of Law of
Torts (CP-03) came
to the class in the first hour and taught the following points.
1.
Malice
has two forms namely Malice in Law and Malice in Fact.
2.
If
an act is done with the knowledge of its consequences, but without any evil
motive or evil intention such malice can be termed as Malice in Law.
3.
If
an act is done with the knowledge of its consequences, and also with any evil
motive or evil intention such malice can be termed as Malice in Fact.
4.
Mensrea or guilty mind is relevant in the case of crime or offence. In Tort mens
rea is not generally relevant. But in certain cases such as deceit, defamation,
etc. mens rea is relevant also in Tort.
5.
What
is the difference between intention and motive? The immediate reason for an
action is called intention whereas ultimate reason for that action is called
its motive.
6.
In
Les Miserables of Victor Hugo, Jean Vaal Jean steals bread to feed his sister’s
children. Here theft is his intention and feeding the children is his motive.
In this case
the original plaintiff had constructed a building without applying and
obtaining a sanction from the Municipal authorities. The authorities after
giving short notices demolished the building. It was alleged that the original
defendants had malice against the original plaintiff. Concerned provisions of
law which did not give breathing time for demolition and removal was
insufficient and therefore illegal. The trial court adjudged the case in favour
of the Plaintiff. In lower appeal the judgment was allowed and in further
appeal the decree of the lower appeal court was set aside and the decree of the
trial court was upheld.
The second
appellate court i.e. Allahabad High Court found that “Had the plaintiff made a complaint
that he had suffered a loss because the demolition was done the same day and he
would not have suffered loss if greater time had been granted for demolishing
the illegal constructions, that would have been a different matter. The case of
the plaintiff, however, was that he had a right to maintain the building and
the action of Board was bad because it was mala fide. In this plea the time
factor ceases to be of any importance. The notice cannot in these circumstances
be said to be such as to make the consequential action illegal.
If a person constructs a building illegally, the demolition of
such building by the municipal authorities would not amount to causing
"injuria" to the owner of the property. No person has the right to
enjoy the fruits of an act which is an offence under law.”
8.
Even
though no wrong has been committed by a person, liability can be fixed on a
person. Such a liability is called ‘Strict Liability.’
9.
Use
of property can be of two types, 1. Natural use of property and 2. Unnatural
use of property. Growing trees and constructing buildings in a property is
natural use of property and construction of reservoir in a property is an
unnatural use of property.
10.
A
person’s property can escape from his possession and cause damage to some other
person.
Rylands employed contractors to build a reservoir, playing no
active role in its construction. When the contractors discovered a series of
old coal shafts improperly filled with debris, they chose to continue work
rather than properly blocking them up. The result was that on 11 December 1860,
shortly after being filled for the first time, Rylands's reservoir burst and
flooded a neighbouring mine, run by Fletcher, causing £937 worth of damage.
Fletcher brought a claim under negligence,
through which the case eventually went to the Exchequer of Pleas. The majority ruled in favour
of Rylands; however, Bramwell B, dissenting, argued
that the claimant had the right to enjoy his land free of interference from
water, and that as a result the defendant was guilty of trespass and the
commissioning of a nuisance. Bramwell's argument was affirmed, both by the Court of Exchequer Chamber and the House
of Lords, leading to the development of the "Rule in Rylands v Fletcher";
that "the person who for his own purposes brings on his lands and collects
and keeps there anything likely to do mischief if it escapes, must keep it in
at his peril, and, if he does not do so, is prima facie answerable for
all the damage which is the natural consequence of its escape"
12.
In
England there are Common Law Courts and Equity Law Courts.
13.
StrictLiability Principle was introduced in Rylands v Fletcher 1868 case.
14.
Smt.
Premalatha then informed the class that she shall conduct a quiz next day in
the class of 20 questions: - 10 from first chapter and 10 being general
questions. Everybody shall come prepared.
15.
Then
she started Chapter II General defences
16.
Suppose
a complaint was lodged against Abhiram for travelling in a bus without a
ticket. Then the first step for remedy is from this complaint is filing a defence statement.
17.
Defences
are statements made by the defendant in order to prove his/ her innocence.
18.
Only
the points intended to prove the innocence of the defendant shall be defence.
19.
General
defences are applicable in a number of cases.
21.
Volentinon fit injuria is a defence which means that the injury has been suffered
voluntarily. It is also called defence of consent. If the plaintiff has given
consent to an action, then this legal maxim is applicable as a defence.
22.
Impliedconsent shall also be considered as consent.
23.
When
the discussion of the case law Hall v. Brooklands Auto Racing Club 1933 was about to start staff
came with a notice addressed to all students. It said, “ഫീസിളവിനു അർഹതയുള്ളവർ
അക്ഷയകേന്ദ്രങ്ങളിൽ രജിസ്റ്റർ ചെയ്യേണ്ടതാണ്. പട്ടികജാതി പട്ടികവർഗ്ഗ വിഭാഗങ്ങളിൽ പെട്ടവർക്ക്
ഇതിനു വരുമാന പരിധിയില്ല. പിന്നോക്കവിഭാഗങ്ങളിൽ പെട്ടവരുടെ വരുമാന പരിധി ഒരു ലക്ഷം
രൂപയാണ്. രജിസ്ട്രേഷനു ശേഷം സകല രേഖകളും 20.11.2015നു മുമ്പായി ആഫീസിൽ സമർപ്പിയ്ക്കേണ്ടതാണ്.
അല്ലാത്തവർക്ക് ഈ ആനുകൂല്യം ലഭിയ്ക്കുന്നതല്ല.”
First hour ended there and Smt. Ligi, teacher of Legal Language and Legal Writing (CP-01) came to the class in the second hour and taught the following.
1.
She
wanted to teach a legal maxim of criminal law today.
2.
IndianPenal Code, 1860 is a substantive law dealing with crimes and punishments.
3.
We
have to learn what a law is and what the elements of law are.
4.
Crime
is an act prohibited by law.
5.
Crime
has two elements namely 1. Physical element and 2. Mental element.
6.
Physical
element is called actus reus.
7.
Mental
element is called mes rea.
8.
The
legal Maxim Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea is a maxim of criminal law.
9.
The
meaning of the above maxim is “An act does not amount to a crime unless done
with a guilty intention.”
10.
Mens
rea means guilty intention or guilty mind.
11.
Actus
means deed.
12.
If
an officer fires to disburse a mob there is no actus reus or mens rea.
13.
Mens
rea can be inferred from circumstantial evidence.
14.
Actus
rea has three ingradients namely, 1. Human conduct 2. Result and 3. Prohibition by Law.
15.
Human
conduct is the act of a human mind, the muscular motor mechanism and bodily
movements. It is an event operating through the mind of a person resulting into
consequences.
16.
If
A takes the gun and shoots B, there should be circumstances such as working
condition of the gun, the gun getting loaded, the victim within the shooting
range etc. Consequences are pulling the trigger, passing the bullet and hitting
the victim.
17.
No
proceedings can be taken without considering the result of the human conduct.
18.
For
cognizance the act should be prohibited by law.
19.
If
the above three points namely human conduct, result and prohibition by law are
fulfilled there is an actus reus.
20.
To
judge whether there is Mens rea there are two criteria to be considered, namely,
1. Whether the act is voluntary and 2.
Whether the person can foresee the consequences of his action.
21.
On
different occasions mens rea has different colours.
22.
Statutoryoffences are exceptions to mens rea.
23.
In
the case law R. v. Prince Prince had kidnapped a girl of 14 years thinking that
she was 18. Prince argued that he had genuinely misunderstood that the girl was
18. But the court did not accept the argument and punished prince.
Smt. Praseeda, teacher of Civil Procedure Code (CP-05) came in the third hour and taught the following among others.
1.
A
complaint in a civil suit is called a plaint.
2.
The
pecuniary jurisdiction of a Munsiff Court is Rupees one lakh and of a Sub Court
is above Rupees one lakh without any limit.
3.
The
valuation of the amount is based on the Kerala Court Fee and SuitValuation Act.
4. Jurisdiction
of Courts can be further classified as 1. Original jurisdiction 2. Appellatejurisdiction and 3. Advisory jurisdiction
5.
The
court that hears and tries a case is said to have original jurisdiction in that
case.
6.
DistrictCourts, High Courts and Supreme Court are Appellate Courts. For the purpose of
convenience, in the case of the judgments of the Munsiff Courts, Sub Courts are
Appellate Courts.
7. Supreme
Court and High Courts have original jurisdiction in the case of writs. Except
in the case of writs Supreme Court and High Courts are Appellate Courts.
8. District
Courts have original jurisdiction of Election Petitions, Audit Petitions etc.
Except for these District Courts are Appellate Courts.
9.
Advisory
Jurisdiction is available to the Supreme Court alone.
10.
Suo moto powers are usually executed by Courts having writ jurisdiction.
11.
Before
filing a plaint, we must know how to draft a plaint.
12.
Normally
light shadow green paper should be used for filing petitions. There shall be
sufficient margin left as prescribed in the petition. The pages should be
stitched with twine.
13.
The
heading of the plaint shall be “BEFORE THE HONOURABLE COURT OF …………………….”
14.
Then
follows the case number like “O.S. No. ………/2015”
15.
Names
of the plaintiffs and the title plaintiffs is written then.
16.
It
is followed by the names of the defendants and the title defendants.
17.
Then
the heading as to under what procedure the plaint is filed is written like
“PLAINT FILED UNDER O. VII, RULE 1, S.26 OF CPC”
18.
The
above matters available in the plaint from “BEFORE THE HONOURABLE COURT OF …”
to PLAINT FILED UNDER O. VII, RULE 1, S.26 OF CPC” is termed as the “cause
title.”
19.
After
the cause title full addresses of the plaintiffs come next and concluded as “All
summons, processes, notices etc. shall be served upon the above addresses or on
the advocate …………………….”
20.
Next
paragraph gives the full address of the defendants and is concluded as “All
summons, processes, notices etc. shall be served upon the above address or on
the advocate if he / she engages any.”
The class
concluded there and there was no more class that day.
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