a brief description of no fault liability in environmental laws, along with full description of absolute liability and strict liability, with cases citation, i.e oleum gas case and Bhopal gas tragedy

1. NO FAULT LIABILITY IN ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION ACT
Bindu Kshtriya
M.Pharm (DRA)
Dept of Pharmaceutical Sciences, MDU

2. CONTENTS:
❖ Introduction
❖ Environment protection act, 1986
❖ Objectives
❖ No fault liability
❖ Strict liability
❖ Absolute liability
❖ References

3. Environment :
"Environment" includes water, air and land and
the inter- relationship which exists among and
between water, air and land, and human beings,
other living creatures, plants, micro-organism and
property

4. Pollution :
❖ "environmental pollution" means the presence in the
environment of any environmental pollutant;
❖ "environmental pollutant" means any solid, liquid or
gaseous substance present in such concentration as may
be, or tend to be, injurious to environment;

5. ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION ACT,
1986
EPA,1986 is the most comprehensive act on the Indian
statute book relating to Environment Protection. It is a
general legislation for the protection of environment.
It was enacted under article 253 of the
constitution. The world community’s resolve to protect
& enhance the environmental quality found expression
in the decisions taken at the United Nation
Conference on the Human Environment held in
stockholm june, 1972

6. OBJECTIVES
❖ To implement the decisions made at the U.N.
Conference
❖ To enact general law on Environment protection
❖ To coordinates activities of the various regulatory
agencies
❖ To provide deterrent punishment who endanger human
environment

7. “Polluters Pay” and “Precautionary
Principle”:
Indian Council for Enviro - Legal Action v. Union of India,
"The Polluter Pays" principle
"Once the activity carried on is hazardous or inherently dangerous,
the person carrying on such activity is liable to make good the loss
caused to any other person by his activity irrespective of the fact
whether he took reasonable care while carrying on his activity.
The rule is premised upon the very nature of the activity carried
on".
The "Polluter Pays" principle as interpreted by the Court means
that the absolute liability for harm to the environment extends not
only to compensate the victims of pollution but also the cost of
restoring the environmental degradation.

8. Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum v Union of India
"The Precautionary principle”
In simple terms mean environmental measures to anticipate,
prevent the causes of environmental degradation“.
In these two cases court has accepted that the "Polluter Pays"
principle and the Precautionary principle are essential features of
“Sustainable Development”

9. Corporate Environmental
liability
No Fault liability
Or
Rule of Ryland v Fletcher
Liability without any fault, to the situations when a person may be liable for some harm even
though he is not negligent in causing the same, or there is unintentional harm, or sometimes he
may have made some positive efforts to prevent the same, liability in such situation rests on a
person engaging in an ultra hazardous activity from which injury to others is likely to result,
notwithstanding his reasonable care should pay for the damage..This is the Rule of strict
liability or the Rule of Rylandsv Fletcher.
However, this rule applies only to non-natural user of land and is subject to some exceptions.

10. STRICT LIABILITY
According to this, if a person brings on his land & keeps
there any dangerous thing, i.e. a thing which is likely
to do mischief if it escapes, he will be prima facie
answerable for the damages caused by its escape
even though he had not been negligent in keeping it
there. Since in such a case the liability arises even
without any negligence on the part of the defendant,
it is known as the rule of strict liability.

11. 3 ESSENTIALS FOR THE APPLICATION OF
THE RULE
❖ Some dangerous thing must have been brought by a
person on his land
❖ The thing thus brought by a person on his land must
escape
❖ It must be non-natural use of land

12. Exceptions to the rule
❖ Plaintiff’s own default
❖ Act of god
❖ Consent of the plaintiff
❖ Act of third party
❖ Statutory authority

13. ABSOLUTE LIABILITY
In this, an enterprise which is engaged in a hazardous or
inherently dangerous activity & harm results to anyone
on account of an accident in the operation of such
hazardous or inherently dangerous activity resulting, is
strictly or absolutely liable to compensate all those who
are affected by the accident.

14. In other words, absolute liability is strict liability without
any exception. This liability standard has been laid down
by the Indian Supreme Court in M.C. Mehta v. Union of
India ( Oleum gas leak case)

15. Oleum Gas leak Case
M.C. Mehta and Another v. Union of India and others.
On the question of liability of an enterprise engaged in hazardous
activities, that an enterprise which is engaged in hazardous or
inherently dangerous activity and an industry which poses a
potential threat to the health and safety of the persons working in
the factory and of those residing in the surrounding area owes an
absolute and non-delegable duty to the community to ensure that
no harm results to any one on account of an hazardous or
inherently dangerous nature of the activity which it has
undertaken.
SC took a bold initiative and evolved the concept of ‘Absolute
Liability’

16. BHOPAL GAS CASE
On December 2/3, 1984, a mass disaster was caused
by the leakage of Methyl Isocyanate & other toxic
gases from a plant set up by the Union Carbide India
Ltd. for the manufacture of pesticides, etc. in Bhopal.
It results in the death of at least 3,000 persons &
serious injuries to a very large no. of others.

17. In 1998, the Supreme Court of India reached a settlement
with Union Carbide:
They had to pay 470 million US Dollars to the Indian
State.
At that time Union Carbide made a turnover of about 9.5
billion dollars, 20 times that amount. In return, there
would be no further prosecution.

18. REFERENCES:
❖ En.m.wikipedia.org
❖ www.legislation.gov.uk
❖ www.bmhrc.org>bhopal gas tragedy
❖ Envis.mse.ac.in>OLEUM GAS LEAK CASE

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