Nuisance Under Law of Torts
Introduction
Nuisance as a tort means an unlawful interference with the person’s use and
enjoyment of land or some right over, or in connection with it. Acts interfering
with the comfort, health or safety are the examples of it. The interference may
be in any way eg noise, vibrations, heat, smoke, smell, fumes, water, gas,
electricity.
Definitions given by different Scholars
The word ‘nuisance has been derived from the French word ‘nuire’ and Latin
word ‘nocare’ which means, to do hurt or to annoy.
• Ordinarily nuisance means disturbances.
• Stephen defined nuisance as, ‘to be anything done to the hurt or annoyance
of the lands, tenement or hereditaments of another, and not amounting to a
trespass’.
Blackstone, ‘nuisance as something that work to hurt, inconvenience or
damage’.
Winfield, ‘nuisance is incapable of exact definition but for the purpose of law
of tort, it may be described as unlawful interference with a person’s use or
enjoyment of land or of some right over, or in connection with
Salmond, ‘the wrong of nuisance consists in causing or allowing without lawful
justification (but so as to common to trespass) the escape of any deterious
thing from his land or from elsewhere into land in possession of the plaintiff
eg. Water, smoke, smell, fumes, gas, noise, heat, vibration, electricity, disease,
germs, animals.
Clark and Lindsell, ‘nuisance is an act or omission which is an interference with
disturbance of or annoyance to a person in the exercise or enjoyment of –
a. Right belonging to him as a member of public when it is a public nuisance, or
b. His ownership or occupation of land, or some easement, quasi easement, or
other right used or enjoyed in connection with land, when it is private
nuisance.’
Nuisance should be distinguished from trespass. Trespass is (i) a direct
physical interference (ii) with the plaintiff’s possession of land (iii) through
some material or tangible objects. Both nuisance and trespass are similar in so
far as in either case the plaintiff has to show his possession of land. The two
may even coincide, some kind of nuisance being also continuing trespass. The
point of distinction between the two are as follows-
If interference is direct, the wrong is trespass, if it is consequential, it amounts
to nuisance. Planting a tree on another's land is trespass. But when a person
plants a tree over his own land and the roots or branches project into or over
the land of another person, that nuisance.
Kinds of Nuisance
1. Public Nuisance
2. Private Nuisance
Public Nuisance
Under Section 3 (48) of the General Clauses Act, 1897, the words mean a public nuisance
defined by the Indian Penal Code.
Section 268 of the Indian Penal Code, defines it as “an act or illegal omission which causes
any common injury, danger or annoyance, to the people in general who dwell, or occupy
property, in the vicinity, or which must necessarily cause injury, obstruction, danger or
annoyance to persons who may have occasion to use any public right.”
Private Nuisance
Private nuisance is the using or authorizing the use of one’s property, or of anything under
one’s control, so as to injuriously affect an owner or occupier of property by physically
injuring his property or affecting its enjoyment by interfering materially with his health,
comfort or convenience.
In contrast to public nuisance, private nuisance is an act affecting some particular individual
or individuals as distinguished from the public at large. The remedy in an action for private
nuisance is a civil action for damages or an injunction or both and not an indictment.
Public nuisance is a crime whereas private nuisance is a civil wrong. Public nuisance is
interference with the right of public in general and is punishable as an offence. Obstructing
a public way by digging a trench, or constructing structure on it are example of public
nuisance. Although such obstruction may cause inconvenience to many persons but none
can be allowed to bring a civil action for that, otherwise there may be hundreds of actions
for a single act of public nuisance. To avoid multiplicity of suits, the law makes public
nuisance only an offence punishable under criminal law.
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