“Negligence is the breach of a duty caused by the omission to do something which a reasonable man, guided by those considerations which ordinarily regulate the conduct of human affairs would do, or doing something which a prudent and reasonable man would not do.”¹

The essential components of negligence, as recognized, are three: “duty”, “breach” and “resulting damage”, that is to say:²

The existence of a duty to take care, which is owed by the defendant to the complainant;

The failure to attain that standard of care, prescribed by the law, thereby committing a breach of such duty; and

Damage, which is both causally connected with such breach and recognized by the law, has been suffered by the complainant (Para 1.23). If the claimant satisfies the court on the evidence that these three ingredients are made out, the defendant should be held liable in negligence (Para 1.24).

The standard of care has to be judged in the light of knowledge or equipment available at the time (of the incident) and not at the date of the trial.

References

1. Yadav M, Singh H, Sharma G, et al. Recent scenario of criminal negligence in India doctor, community & apex court. JIAFM 2005;27(4):252-7.
2. 334/2005/SCI/144-145 of 2004: Jacob Mathew vs State of Punjab and Anr: 5th day of August 2005: R C Lahoti, CJI: Hon’ble Mr. Justice G P Mathur, Hon’ble Mr. Justice P K Balasubramanyan.