Vicarious liability

Vicarious liability is the liability of the master for the torts of his servant or agent. The principle "Qui facit per alium, facit per se" means one who acts through another acts himself or that the act of an agent is the act of the principal.

The liability of the employer arises in the following circumstances:

:- if the employer authorises an illegal act, he can be made liable

:- employer is liable for the acts of an independent contractor in cases of strict liability

:- employer is lisble in cases of nuisance

The employer is liable for torts committed in the course of employment and not private wrongs. An act is deemed to be done in the course of employment, if it is either:

(1) a wrongful act authorised by the master, or

(2) a wrongful or unauthorised mode of doing some act authorised by the master.

It arises in the relations of principal and agent, master and servant and partners in a partnership firm.

Doctrine of common employment

A master was not liable for the negligent harm done by one servant to another fellow servant acting in the course of their common employment.

Essentials:

(a) the wrongdoer and the person injured must be fellow servants, and

(b) at the time of the accident, they must have been engaged in common employment.

It was abolished in India in 1951 by an amendment in Employer's Liability Act, 1954.

Vicarious liability of the State

Article 300 of the Constitution of India lays down the tortious liability of the State for the torts commited by its employees. Article 300(1) states that: The Governor of India may sue or be sued by the name of the Union and the Government of a State may sue or be sued by the name of the State and may, subject to any provisions which may be made by Act of Parliament or of the Legislature of such State enacted by virtue of powers conferred by this Constitution, sue or be sued in relation to their respective affairs in the like cases as the Dominion of India and the corresponding Provinces or the corresponding Indian States might have sued or been sued if this Constitution had not been enacted.

Under the provisions of this Article, the State has been held liable in cases of accidents(Rooplal v. Union of India,Union of India v. Sugrabai,Baxi Amrik Singh v. Union of India, etc), illegal arrests(Bhim Singh v. State of Jammu and Kashmir), custodial violence and deaths(Peoples Union for Democratic Rights v. Police Commissioner, Delhi PoliceHeadquarters, Saheli v Commissioner of Police, Nilabati Behera v State of Orissa).