Tort of Malicious Prosecution
INTRODUCTION
“Malicious Prosecution” was extensively defined in the landmark case of West Bengal State Electricity Board v. Dilip Kumar Ray.[i] Malicious is a fixed hate or something done with evil intention or motive not as a result of sudden passion. Malicious prosecution is also termed as malicious use of legal procedures. The Hon’ble Supreme Court observed the difference between malicious use and malicious abuse of legal procedures. The former is the initiation of a legal procedure with malicious intent and the latter is the employment of legal procedures for attainment of an objective other than that purported by law.
The evolution of this tort dates back to the reign of Edward I when the crime of conspiracy was recognised. The English Jurisprudence being the most ...