Amogh Nitin Shetty, DES Shri Navalmal Firodia Law College, Pune
Facts of the Case:
In the case of Rylands v. Fletcher (1868) LR 3 HL 330, the defendant Rylands wanted to construct a reservoir on his land so he contracted an Independent Contractor to build it. During the construction of the reservoir, the engineers discovered an old disused mine shaft that led to the plaintiff, Fletcher’s coal mine but negligently failed to properly block it up. After the reservoir was filled with water, the water escaped through the unblocked shaft, flooding and damaging Fletchers' coal mine. To seek compensation for damage caused to his mines by water overflowing from a reservoir the defendant had built, Fletcher bought an action against Ryland. While it was determined that Ryland had not been negligent, the contractors had been. Ryland was sued by Fletcher, and the court ultimately found Ryland liable.
Issue Raised
The main issue in the case was whether Ryland could be held liable for the flooding and damage caused to Fletcher's coal mine due to the escape of water from the reservoir, despite the absence of any negligence on Ryland's part.
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