Misfeasance In Public Office – A Lame Elephant In Law
- IJLLR Journal
- Dec 31, 2025
- 1 min read
Rajnish Maniktala, Senior Advocate, High Court of Himachal Pradesh, Shimla.
Dinkar Bhaskar, Advocate, High Court of Himachal Pradesh, Shimla.
ABSTRACT
The tort of misfeasance in public office makes the officers responsible for malicious abuse of power and performing official acts which are unlawful to their knowledge and it causes injury either to individual concerned or the State exchequer. The doctrine developed in England and is being followed by Indian Courts, which have held public officials responsible for their unlawful acts and have awarded the damages caused to individuals or the State exchequer. However, two issues arise with respect to application of this branch of law of torts. One is - there have been very few such cases where the Courts have held the officer guilty while quashing the order being illegal, which in many cases, in knowledge of officer concerned, is contrary to law. Second is - a three-judge bench of Supreme Court reviewed its judgments whereby damages were awarded against the public officers for having caused loss the State exchequer on the ground that there was no identifiable plaintiff, even though, act was held to be illegal. It implies that the Courts will be unable to award damages for illegal acts of public officers which come to light in public interest litigations or where the Courts take up the matters suo- moto. The judgment, even doubted by another three-judge bench of Supreme Court, inhibits development of this branch of law.
Keywords: Law of torts, misfeasance in public office, damages, holding public officers responsible, malicious abuse of power.
