Foreseeable damage

The damage must be of such a nature that the damage suffered by the plaintiff must be such that the defendant can reasonably foresee.

If the type of damage is foreseeable, then it does not matter whether the extent of the damage suffered and the way in which it occurred were foreseeable or not. The company was not held liable as the plaintiff’s injury was not foreseeable.

The general rule is that the defendant is responsible for his own acts and when the plaintiff suffers the act of a third person the defendant could not foresee that he will not be liable.

But when the accused could have reasonably foreseen the intervening act of a third party, he will be responsible for the damage caused by it.

In Ganga Sugar Corporation Ltd. v. Sukhbir Singh, [AIR 1974 All. 113], the driver of a jeep owned by Ganga Sugar Corporation Ltd. left him on a crowded road with the ignition keys in the jeep because he found the road blocked by a crowd.

He went to the police station. Meanwhile, someone was driving the jeep and caused an accident in which Sukhbir Singh was injured. The driver was alleged to have been negligent in leaving the ignition keys in the jeep.

When a peril created by the defendant is fully appreciated by the plaintiff and he voluntarily puts himself in that peril, he cannot recover due to Valentine Fit’s injuries and when the risk is foreseeable but the plaintiff remains indifferent, he may be guilty of contributory negligence.

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