Introduction
The Term Nuisance has been taken from a French word nuire which means to hurt, annoy or damage Nuisance is an injury to the right of a person’s possession of his property to undisturbed enjoyment of it and results from an improper usage by another individual.
Definition by Different Authors
Stephen- According to Stephen, nuisance is anything done to hurt or annoyance of the tenements of another or of the lands, one which doesn’t amount to trespass.
Salmond- According to Salmond, nuisance consists in causing or allowing to cause without lawful justification, the escape of any deleterious thing from one’s land or from anywhere into land in possession of the plaintiff such as water, smoke, gas, heat, electricity.
Essential Elements of Nuisance
Wrongful Act- it means the act which is done with the intention to cause hurt or its infringement of the legal rights of another person is considered to be a wrongful act. The damage or loss or annoyance should be such that the law should be considered as a substantial material for the claim.
Kinds of Nuisance
Public Nuisance– Public Nuisance is considered to be a crime. It is defined in the Indian penal code which says that nuisance as an act which may cause any common injury danger or annoyance to the people in general who dwell or occupy the property, or it can be said it necessarily causes injury, obstruction danger or annoyance to the people who may have occasion to use any public right.
This generally affects the society and people in a large population or some portion of the society, It can be said that it affects the rights of the members of the society which they enjoy over their property. Situations where an individual may have a private right of action in respect to a public nuisance:
- There must be some existence of any personal injury which is of a higher degree than the rest of the public.
- The injury has to be direct and not just a consequential injury.
- The injury must be shown to have a huge effect.
Private Nuisance– Private nuisance is said to be civil wrong it is a type of nuisance in which a person’s enjoyment of his property gets destroyed by the other individual. It affects a person’s enjoyment.
Elements to Private Nuisance
Damage to property- with regard to property any sensible injury to the property would be sufficient to support an action for damages. Such a nuisance arises from manufacturing works, chains like smoke, fumes gas, noise, etc. It can effect the owner’s property through the physical injury or also it can affect the enjoyment of the property Unlike public nuisance, talking about private nuisance, an individual’s usage or enjoyment of property is destroyed as distinguished from the public or society at large. The remedy for private nuisance is a civil action for damages or an injunction or both.
Physical Discomfort- In the case of physical discomfort there are two essential conditions needed.
In excess of the natural and ordinary course of enjoyment of the property.
The usage by the third party should be of out of the natural course of enjoyment from one party.
Interfering with the ordinary conduct of human existence
The discomfort should be of such a degree that it would affect an individual in the locality and people would not be able to put up or tolerate with the enjoyment.
Cases
Radhey Shyam V Gur Prasad– In this case, Mr. Gur Prasad Saxena and others had filed a suit against Mr Radhey Shyam and five others for a permanent injunction restraining the defendant from installing and running a flour mi in the premises occupied by the defendant. Gur Prasad Saxena had filed another suit against the petitioner Radhey Shyam and five others for permanent injunctions from running and continuing to run an oil expeller plant. The plaintiff in the case alleged that the mill was causing noise which as a result was affecting the health of the plaintiff. The court held that by running a flour mill in a residential area, the defendant was causing the nuisance which also effected the health of the plaintiff.
Rose V Miles– In this case, the defendant wrongfully obstructed a public navigable creek which obstructed the defendant from transporting his goods through the creek due to which he had to transport his goods through land because of which he suffered extra costs in the transportation. The court held that the act of the defendant had caused a public nuisance as the plaintiff successfully proved that he had incurred loss over other members of the society and this he had a right of action against the defendant.
Durga Prasad Vs State– In this case, it was observed that nuisance means something which annoys hurt or provide discomfort is said to be a nuisance
Dollman Vs Hillman ltd 1941– It said that an isolation act of noise is not a nuisance exceptions
Dr. Ram Raj Singh Vs Babul Lal– in this case, the defendant brick the grinding machine which resulted in affecting the plaintiff patient’s health it had caused physical inconvenience to the doctor and also to the patients. The court held that the plaintiff had suffered from special damage and the respondent is liable for it
Cambell v Paddingtom Corporation– In this case, unirrepreated view of the funeral process could be held in King Edward which was the plaintiff’s building. One day before the defendant started the construction work which had blocked the view of the funeral process. The court held that the plaintiff was liable to get the compensation
Conclusion
The article can be concluded by saying that Nuisance means when someone annoys, hurt or cause harm to an individual. But sometimes this nuisance can affect the health of the individual as well. Seeing the situation of day-to-day life factories can’t be constructed in the residential area taking about the title yes nuisance does give injury to the property and also physical discomfort under the private nuisance thus private nuisance is termed to be a civil wrong and public nuisance as a crime.
This article is authored by Alesha, Fourth-Year, BBA LL.B student at Alliance University.
Also Read – What is meant by the term ‘Tort’? Discuss the traditional way to understand a tort
