| Introduction: Explain tort law. Body: Explain its significance and reasons behind its non-adoption in India. Conclusion: Write a way forward. |
The word tort is derived from the Latin word tortum which means wrong. Tort law is the body of laws that enables people to seek compensation for wrongs committed against them. When someone’s actions cause some type of harm to another, whether it be physical harm to another person, or harm to someone’s property or reputation, harmed or injured person or entity may seek damages through the court. Generally the compensations are monetary awards ordered by the court to be paid to an injured party, by the party at fault.
Significance:
- Once the concept of tort is well established, it can be applied to damages caused to a person’s health and safety, his environment, his property, his economic interests, or his reputation.
- With these broad guidelines in place, the application of tort is a matter of common sense – not every action that a plaintiff alleges has caused damage can be automatically seen as grounds for receiving compensation.
- Every case where damage is alleged need not be treated as a criminal matter, especially when criminal intent is difficult or impossible to prove.
In India the law of torts has not been totally codified. There are following reasons behind its non-adoption in India:
- Uncertainty of law: There is no uniformity and certainty in its rules and doctrines. There are law of torts are available in England on many points, those cannot be applied in Indian situations.
- Lack of political consciousness: Most of the people in India are unaware of their rights because of their illiteracy.
- Illiteracy: Indian literacy rate has grown to 79.31% (2011 census). An old 1990 study estimated that it would take until 2060 for India to achieve universal literacy at then-current rate of progress.
- Poverty: Despite being one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, India has a significant problem of poverty. So most of the people are not capable of meeting high costs of litigation for enforcement of their legal rights.
- Expensive and dilatory judicial system: the judicial system in India is very expensive and it is dilatory. Court fee and Advocates’ fee is very high. Therefore, the poor people are ready to suffer their violation rights instead of going to court.
In numerous cases, Indian courts have ruled that the country’s law of tort is crucial to the progress of Indian society. By reducing court-fee, and by adopting simple procedure to dispose of tort based cases, there is very chance to protect the civil rights of the people of India.
