Occupier's Liability and Extinction of Liability — MCQs

All questions with answers and explanations

Read the full set here, or use the practice card above to test yourself one question at a time.

1. Who is an occupier of premises for the law of occupiers' liability?

   • Only the owner of the premises
   • The person in control of the premises (correct answer)
   • Only a tenant
   • Any visitor to the premises

   Explanation. Control, not ownership, decides. A tenant, a hotel manager or a school management can be an occupier, and more than one person can occupy the same premises.

2. The English Occupiers' Liability Act, 1957 states, for lawful visitors:

   • A single 'common duty of care' for lawful visitors (correct answer)
   • Complete abolition of all occupier duties
   • A duty owed only to trespassers
   • A duty that varies by the visitor's nationality

   Explanation. The 1957 Act states the common duty of care: reasonable care that the visitor is reasonably safe in using the premises for the purpose for which he is allowed to be there. Indian courts treat it as persuasive.

3. Res ipsa loquitur applies where:

   • The accident would not ordinarily happen without negligence, and the cause was in the defendant's exclusive control (correct answer)
   • The plaintiff was clearly negligent
   • The defendant admits no wrongdoing occurred
   • There is a valid statutory authority defence

   Explanation. Res ipsa loquitur raises an inference of negligence where an accident of this kind would not ordinarily happen without it, and the cause was in the defendant's exclusive control.

4. In Municipal Corporation of Delhi v. Subhagwanti (1966), the Supreme Court applied res ipsa loquitur to:

   • A road accident
   • The collapse of the Chandni Chowk Clock Tower (correct answer)
   • A defamation claim
   • A breach of contract

   Explanation. The collapse of the Clock Tower, under the Corporation's control, supported an inference of negligence.

5. Waiver, as a mode of extinguishing liability, involves:

   • Involuntary loss of a right
   • Voluntary and intentional relinquishment of a known right (correct answer)
   • Death of a party
   • Payment of the full claim

   Explanation. Waiver is the voluntary and intentional relinquishment of a known right, often through election between inconsistent remedies.

6. Acquiescence, in the context of a continuing nuisance, may result in a court:

   • Automatically awarding double damages
   • Being unwilling to grant an injunction against long-tolerated conduct (correct answer)
   • Dismissing the case for lack of jurisdiction
   • Ordering criminal prosecution

   Explanation. A plaintiff who has knowingly tolerated an ongoing nuisance for a long period may find a court unwilling to grant an injunction.

7. A valid release of a tort claim:

   • Only reduces the damages by half
   • Extinguishes the underlying cause of action entirely (correct answer)
   • Has no legal effect unless registered
   • Applies only to criminal cases

   Explanation. A release, once validly given, extinguishes the underlying cause of action entirely.

8. An 'accord executory', without satisfaction:

   • Fully discharges the original claim
   • Does NOT discharge the original cause of action (correct answer)
   • Is the same as a release
   • Automatically doubles the claim

   Explanation. Until satisfaction is actually rendered, a mere accord does not discharge the original cause of action.

9. The maxim actio personalis moritur cum persona means:

   • A personal action survives forever
   • A personal action dies with the person (correct answer)
   • Only criminal actions survive death
   • Death always extinguishes contractual claims

   Explanation. This old common law maxim meant that a purely personal tort action died on the death of either party.

10. In India, the harshness of actio personalis moritur cum persona has been reduced mainly by:

    • Judicial abolition of all tort claims
    • Section 306 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 and the Fatal Accidents Act, 1855 (correct answer)
    • The Indian Penal Code
    • The Limitation Act, 1963 alone

    Explanation. Section 306 saves most claims for and against the executor or administrator. The Fatal Accidents Act, 1855 gives the wife, husband, parent and child a right to sue for a death caused by a wrong.