Strict and absolute liability: Rylands v. Fletcher, M.C. Mehta and vicarious liability
LUG-102 Jurisprudence — Legal Method, Indian Legal System and Basic Theory of Law, Unit V: Absolute liability. · LLB · 60 min
When the law holds a person liable without proof of intention or negligence, liability is strict; when it allows no defence at all, it is absolute. This lecture takes the English rule of Rylands v. Fletcher (its elements and five exceptions) and sets it point by point against the Indian rule of absolute liability in M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (the oleum gas leak), follows the rule through Bhopal, the polluter pays principle of Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action and the statutes that adopt it, adds strict liability in criminal law with mistake and accident as defences (ss. 14, 17, 18 BNS), and ends with vicarious liability of masters, principals and the State (Vidyawati, Kasturilal, Nagendra Rao). Every paper since 2022-23 has asked about one of these.
Objectives
- Explain liability without fault and Salmond's three classes of absolute liability (mistake of law, mistake of fact, inevitable accident).
- State the rule in Rylands v. Fletcher with its three essentials and five exceptions, with a case for each.
- Contrast Rylands v. Fletcher and M.C. Mehta v. Union of India point by point and explain the reasons the Supreme Court gave for the Indian rule.
- Trace absolute liability through Union Carbide, Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action and the Public Liability Insurance Act, and explain strict liability offences with their defences under the BNS.
- Explain vicarious liability, the course of employment test and the liability of the State under Article 300 from Vidyawati to Nagendra Rao.
Slides
- Liability without fault: the idea and Salmond's three classes
- Rylands v. Fletcher (1868): the rule and its elements
- The exceptions to Rylands v. Fletcher: five defences
- M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (1987): the oleum gas leak and absolute liability
- Rylands v. Fletcher and M.C. Mehta: the contrast, point by point
- After M.C. Mehta: Bhopal, the polluter pays and the statutes
- Strict liability in criminal law: when mens rea is dispensed with
- Mistake and accident as defences: ss. 14, 17 and 18 BNS
- Vicarious liability: meaning, maxims, reasons and the course of employment
- Vicarious liability of the State: Article 300, Vidyawati, Kasturilal, Nagendra Rao
- Revision: the map of liability without fault
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