False Imprisonment Essay

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Introduction
Trespass to the person means a direct or intentional interference with a person's body or liberty.Trespass to person is one of the very few torts which are still relevant in spite of the development of the tort of negligence, which covers any unreasonable act causing foreseeable harm to another. The trespass to person is based on the principle that any direct invasion of a protected interest from a positive act is actionable subject to justification. The principle has been limited further by the courts to exclude unintentional or reasonable acts. The researcher intends to focus on the tort of false imprisonment in this project. False imprisonment is a wrong in common law and a tort. It is also found in the criminal law and is dealt with in the Indian Penal Code under the topic “wrongful confinement”. In India, even constitutional remedies are available against false imprisonment.
Literature Review
The tort of false imprisonment is restraining someone in a limited area without her consent or justification. It applies even to governmental detention. The IPC deals with false imprisonment under the topic of “wrongful confinement” from s.339 to s.348. The restriction with respect to any good is also considered to be false imprisonment.
The Constitution of India gives immense importance to the rights relating to an individual’s personal freedom. The significance attached to the entire spectre of individual rights by the Constitution is self-evident. It is in this context, the tort of false imprisonment is ideally placed. Article 21, providing for the right to life and personal liberty, is a crucial provision. The intention is to protect the life and liberty of the people from the arbitrary acts of the executive. The impris...

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... , the knowledge of imprisonment was held to be of no consequence to the fact of false imprisonment. As held in Grainger v. Hill , “if the deprivation of liberty is complete it amounts to an imprisonment and need not be confinement in prison” for example, a person restrained from leaving his house or ship, or a detaining a person on the street without his consent. In Parankusam v. Stuart , the court held the defendant liable for false imprisonment, for issuing a false letter to the plaintiff asking him to present before the Magistrate. The tort often comes to the aid of prisoners, because it has been held that a prison official should not hold a prisoner beyond his term or place him in a wrong part of the prison or with a wrong class of prisoners . Such an act by the official is beyond his official authority and hence would lead to liability for false imprisonment.

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