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31. As already mentioned above, the rule of strict liability laid down by Blackburn J. in Rylands vs. Fletcher (supra) was restricted in appeal by Lord Cairns to non-natural users, the word 'natural' meaning 'that which exists in or by nature, and is not artificial', and that was the sense in which it was used by Lord Cairns. However, later it acquired an entirely different meaning i.e. that which is ordinary and usual, even though it may be artificial' vide Rickards vs. Lothian (1913) AC 263 followed in Read vs. Lyons (1947) AC 156. Thus the expression 'non-natural' was later interpreted to mean 'abnormal', and since in an industrial society industries can certainly not be called 'abnormal' the rule in Rylands vs. Fletcher (supra) was totally emasculated in these subsequent rulings. Such an interpretation, as Prof. Newark writes, 'would have surprised Lord Cairns and astounded Blackburn, J' (see article entitled 'Non-natural User and Rylands vs. Fletcher,' published in Modern Law Review, 1961 vol 24, p

557).

32. In Read vs. Lyons (1947) AC 156) which was a case of injury due to a shell explosion in an ammunitions factory, Lord Macmillan while rejecting the claim of the plaintiff made further restrictions to the rule in Rylands vs. Fletcher (supra) by holding that the rule "derives from a conception of mutual duties of neighbouring landowners", and was therefore inapplicable to personal injuries. He also held that to make the defendant liable there should be escape from a place under the defendant's control and occupation to a place outside his occupation, and since the plaintiff was within the premises at the time of the accident the injury was not due to escape therefrom. In this way Read vs. Lyons (supra) destroyed the very spirit of the decision in Rylands vs. Fletcher (supra) by restricting its principle to the facts of that particular case, instead of seeing its underlying juristic philosophy.

33. Apart from the above, some other exceptions carved out to the rule in Rylands vs. Fletcher (supra) are (a) consent of the plaintiff; (b) common benefit; (c) Act of stranger; (d) Act of God; (e) Statutory authority; (f) default of plaintiff etc.

34. In Dunne vs. North Western Gas Boards (1964) 2 QB 806 Sellers L.J. asserted that the defendant's liability in Rylands vs. Fletcher (1868) LR 3 HC 330 "could simply have been placed on the defendants' failure of duty to take reasonable care", and it seems a logical inference from this that the Court of Appeals considered the rule to have no useful function in modern times. As Winfield remarks, the rule in Rylands vs. Fletcher (supra), by reason of its many limitations and exceptions, today seldom forms the basis of a successful claim in the Courts (see Winfield and Jolowicz on Tort, 13th Edn p. 442), and it seems that the rule "has hardly been taken seriously by modern English Courts", vide Att. Gen. vs. Geothermal Produce (N.Z.) Ltd., (1987) 2 NZ1R 348.

35. As Winfield remarks, because of the various limitations and exceptions to the rule "we have virtually reached the position where a defendant will not be considered liable when he would not be liable according to the ordinary principles of negligence" (see Winfield on Tort, 13th Edn p. 443).

36. This repudiation of the principle in Rylands vs. Fletcher (supra) is contrary to the modern judicial philosophy of social justice. The injustice may clearly be illustrated by the case of Pearson vs. North Western Gas Board (1968) 2 All ER 669. In that case the plaintiff was seriously injured and her husband was killed by an explosion of gas, which also destroyed their home. Her action in Court failed, in view of the decision in Dunne vs. North Western Gas Board (1964) 2 QB 806. Thus the decline of the rule in Rylands vs. Fletcher (supra) left the individual injured by the activities of industrial society virtually without adequate protection.