LG Polymers liable under Principle of ‘Strict Liability’ for Vizag gas leak: NGT
Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II – Health & GS-III – Industries; Environment
In News:
The National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) order in the Visakhapatnam gas tragedy found LG Polymers liable under Principle of “strict liability”.
It was sacked in India by the Supreme Court in 1986.
However, lawyers say the term “absolute liability” should have been used.
Important value additions:
Strict liability principle
Under this principle, a party is not liable and need not pay compensation if a hazardous substance escapes his premises by accident or by an “act of God’” among other circumstances.
It was evolved in an 1868 English case which provided companies with several exemptions from assuming liability.
Absolute Liability Principle
The Supreme Court, while deciding the Oleum gas leak case of Delhi in 1986, found strict liability inadequate to protect citizens’ rights and replaced it with the ‘absolute liability principle’.
Under this principle, a company in a hazardous industry cannot claim any exemption.
It has to mandatorily pay compensation, whether or not the disaster was caused by its negligence.
It is part of Article 21 (right to life).
National Green Tribunal
It is an Act of the Parliament of India which enables creation of a special tribunal to handle the cases pertaining to environmental issues.
It draws inspiration from the Article 21 – Protection of life and personal liberty – which assures the citizens of India the right to a healthy environment.
India became the third country in the world to set up a specialised environmental tribunal, only after Australia and New Zealand, and the first developing country to do so.
NGT is mandated to make disposal of applications or appeals within 6 months of filing.
The NGT has five places of sittings –
New Delhi and Bhopal (Principal place)
Pune
Kolkata
Chennai
The Tribunal has jurisdiction over all civil cases.
The Visakhapatnam gas leak
It was an industrial accident that occurred at the LG Polymers chemical plant on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India, on 7 May 2020.
Preliminary investigations concluded that the accident was likely the result of improper maintenance of units storing the styrene monomer, improper storage and operation errors.
