Act of God, a direct, violent, sudden, and irresistible act of nature, which could not, by any reasonable care, have been foreseen or resisted, see Nugent v. Smith, (1876) 1 CPD 423. The general rule is that where the law creates a duty and the party is disabled from performing it, without any default of his own, by the act of God or the King's enemies, the law will excuse him; but when a party by his own contract creates a duty he is bound to make it good, notwithstanding any accident by inevitable necessity, Nichols v. Marsland, (1876) 2 Ex D 4. See also Common Carrier, tit. CARRIER.
Accidental fire is not an act of God which can be traced to natural causes, Patel Roadways Ltd. v. Birla Yamaha Ltd., (2000) 4 SCC 91.
Means an overwhelming, unpreventable event caused exclusively by forces of nature, such as an earthquake, flood, or tornado. The definition has been statutorily broadened to include all natural phenomena that are exceptional, inevitable, and irresistible, the effects of which could not be prevented or avoided by the exercise of due care of foresight, Black Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 34.
An act of God provides no excuse unless it is so unexpected that no reasonable human foresight could be presumed to anticipate the occurrence, having regard to the conditions of time and place known to be prevailing, Divisional Controller, KSRTC v. Mahadeva Shetty, (2003) 7 SCC 197.
Means all natural agencies as opposed to human activities, constitute acts of God, and not merely those which attain an extraordinary degree of violence or are very unusual occurrence. The distinction is one of kind and not one of degree. The violence or rarity of the event is relevant only in considering whether it could or could not have been prevented by reasonable care; if it could not, then it is an act of God which will relief from liability, howsoever trivial or common its cause may have been. If this be correct, then the unpredictable nature of the occurrence will go only to show that the act of God in question was one which the defendant was under no duty to foresee or provide against. It is only in such a case that the act of God will provide a defence, R.F. v. Henston, Salmond on the Law of Torts, 330 Edn. 1977.
The expression 'act of God' signifies the operation of natural forces free from human intervention, such as lightning, storm etc. It may include such unexpected occurrences of nature as severe gale, snowstorms, hurricanes, cyclones, tidal waves and the like. But every unexpected wind and storm does not operate as an excuse from liability, if there is a reasonable possibility of anticipating their happening. An act of God provides no excuse unless it is so unexpected that no reasonable human foresight could be presumed to anticipate the occurrence, having regard to the conditions of time and place known to be prevailing. For instance, where by experience of a number of years preventive action can be taken, Lord Westbury defined the act of God (damnum fatale in Scotch Laws) as an occurrence which no human foresight can provide against and of which human prudence is not bound to recognize the possibility, Divisional Controller KSRTC v. Mahadeva Shetty, (2003) 7 SCC 197 (201): AIR 2003 SC 4172. See also AIR 2000 SC 1461.