Law of Torts and Consumer Protection

Mid-Term Exam: Fall 2022

Course Code : L-CT-0002

Programme : B.Com. LL.B. Section-C
Time Allowed : 3 days (Due at 09.00a.m. on 10.10.22)
Maximum Marks : 50

This question paper has four (4) printed pages (including this page).

Instructions to students:

1. This question paper has four (4) questions.

2. Students must answer any two (2) questions. Each question carries 25 marks. If more
than two questions are attempted, only the first two will be graded.
3. The maximum word limit for each question is 500 words. Any part of the attempted
answer that exceeds the word limit will be struck out for the purposes of grading.
4. All answers must be substantiated with relevant legal principles and precedents.
5. Please note that footnotes (if used) are not included in your word count.
6. Plagiarism in any form is prohibited. Anyone found using unfair means will be
penalized severely.
7. Start each answer on a new page. Each answer must be numbered carefully.
8. Submissions should be in the .doc/.pdf file format.
9. Submissions should adhere to the following formatting guidelines –
Font – Times New Roman
Size – 12
Spacing – 1.5
Justified
Margins – Normal [2.54 cm on all sides]
10. Only italics/underlining may be used sparingly to highlight relevant portions of the
answers.
11. This is an individual examination. You are not permitted to work with any other
personduring this assessment.
1. Henry and Whitney recently married and have been living in the cozy town of Sonepat.
Whitney recently found out that she was pregnant. As Whitney had been diagnosed
with mental health issues earlier in her life, Henry and Whitney decided that she would
take a course of medication for preventing depression during and after her pregnancy.

On Saturday night, Henry went out for drinks with his friend, Frederick. While they
were both enjoying their drinks, Henry proudly mentioned that his wife has been
mentally strong and physically healthy. Then, Henry boastfully said that now his wife
would not be affected by any difficult circumstance. After Henry made this statement,
he went to the washroom. A drunk Frederick picked up Henry’s phone from the table
and dialed Whitney’s number from Henry’s phone. He wanted to call Whitney to test
her mental strength. Whitney answered the phone. Wanting to play a joke on Whitney,
Frederick told her that Henry was involved in a fist fight in the bar and his backbone
was severely injured. He said that Henry had been rushed to the hospital in an
ambulance.

After talking to Whitney, Frederick kept Henry’s phone on the table. Soon after Henry
joined him for another round of drinks. After Whitney spoke to Frederick, she felt a
severe ache in the stomach and had to be hospitalized for a week. She miscarried the
foetus and suffered from chronic depression as a result of the shock she received by
talking to Frederick.

Assuming the above situation took place in a common law jurisdiction, advise all
parties as to whether there can be any potential claims for damages under tort law.
[25 marks] [500 words]

2. Shishir was the owner of a grocery store in the small locality. One morning, moments
after the store had opened for the day, he noticed a man walk into the store who looked
oddly suspicious. The man was walking with hunched shoulders and had covered half
his face with a handkerchief. Shishir eventually ignored the man and continued reading
the day’s newspaper at the store counter. Suddenly, he noticed that the man’s photo was
published in the day’s paper as one Popat Lal, a fugitive being sought by the police of
a neighbouring town for questioning in the case of a prominent kidnapping. Shishir
immediately went to lock the store’s main gate and called the local police. The local
 superintendent of police, Rakesh, arrived in minutes and arrested Popat Lal. From there,
he was placed under arrest at the police station after completion of all the necessary
formalities.

Popat Lal applied for bail through his attorney, which was accepted by the Magistrate.
Upon receipt of the bail bond papers, the police officers released Popat Lal. After being
released, Popat Lal did not leave the police station immediately, as he was waiting for
his friend to come and pick him up. While he was waiting, Rakesh, in his capacity as
Superintendent, claimed that he had cancelled Popat Lal’s bail request and ordered his
re-arrest. In pursuance of this order, two armed police officers stood at the only
entry/exit door of the police station while Popat Lal continued waiting for his friend.
They intended to arrest him the minute his cell was prepared, or as soon as he tried to
leave. Half an hour later, Rakesh told the police officers to let Popat Lal leave, as he
had been reliably informed that under the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code,
the power to cancel a bail bond can be exercised exclusively by a Magistrate. An hour
after that, Popat Lal’s friend reaches the station and they both leave.

You are Popat Lal’s legal consultant. Identify and discuss any potential causes of
action in tort law available to him and what defences, if any are available to the
potential defendants.
[25 marks] [500 words]

3. Distinguish between injuria sine damnum and damnum sine injuria, with the help of
leading case laws.
[25 marks] [500 words]

4. Kundan was employed in a garage as a general garage hand. His work involved moving
cars out of the way of other cars by pushing them by hand, and cleaning the property.
He had been forbidden to drive the cars, as he did not have a driving license. One day,
when his employer was out of the garage, he noticed that the keys to one of the vans in
the garage were left in the ignition. He immediately drove off with the van to go visit
his friend for lunch.
His friend’s home did not have any space for parking, but the owner of the neighbouring
house had space in the lawn. The owner of this house, Shanti, was out of station and
had no boundary wall around her property. The space in her front lawn where she
generally parked her car was empty, but for a bicycle that was locked to the letterbox.
Kundan parked the van in this space and after having lunch with his friend, he went to
return the van promptly to the garage with no one being the wiser. While backing out
of the lawn, he accidentally ran over the bicycle causing irreparable damage to the back
wheel. He thereby he returns the van to the garage in perfect condition.

Advise Shanti on all possible claims against Kundan and his employer in tort law.
[25 marks] [500 words]