Criminal Liability of Corporation

Criminal Liability of Corporation Curre Current nt Supre Supreme me Court’ Court’ss decisi decision on have made the stand stand appar apparent ently ly clear clear in India India that that the Corpor Corporati ation on can be pros prosecut ecuted ed as a separa separate te legal legal entity entity even in the offences offences where where the  punishment is imprisonment. The apex court’s decision under various matters reflects the gravity of the concerned concerned problem i.e being faced by the aggrieved parties. parties. The Concept of “No soul to ic! has become obsolete and an d applicability of lifting the corporate veil has unveiled the sheath.

Introduction  " company can only o nly act ac t through human beings and a human h uman being who commits co mmits an offence on account of or for the benefit of a company will be responsible for that offence himself. The importance of incorporation is that it maes the company itself liable in certain circumstances# as well as the human beings. $$$%lanville &illiams The basic rule of criminal liability revolves around the Latin maxim actus non facit reum# nisi mens sit rea. rea. It means that to make one liable it must be shown that act or omission has been done which was forbidden by law and has been done with guilty mind. Hence every crime has two elements- one physical known as actus reus and other mental known as mens rea1. This is the rule of criminal liability in technical sense but in general the principle upon which responsibility is premised is autonomy of the individual which states that the imposition of responsibility upon an individual flows naturally from the freedom to make rational choices about actions and  behavior !. "lthough there is an exception to it i.e 'ule i.e 'ule of "bsolute (iablity in (iablity in which one can be # made liable even in the absence of mens rea . " corporation was not indictable for any crime under early common law$ but the broad general rule is now well established that a corporation can be sub%ected to indictment for violating a statutory or common-law duty. "t the present most countries agree that corporations can be Crime! *.'.+. Turner Turner ,d. ew elhi/ 0niversal Law ublishing vt. !221 1 &ussell '.(.) 'ussell on Crime! at p.13-41 "shworth )rinciples of Criminal Criminal (aw p. (aw  p. 35-61 7(xford8 +larendon ress 15519 cited by :isse 2 ". "shworth )rinciples &econstructing +orporate +riminal Law8 eterrence &etribution &etribution :ault and ;anctions 4< ;. +al. L. &ev. 11$1 3 "ssn. of =ictims of 0phaar Tragedy v. 0(I 12$ 7!22#9 LT !#$ ;ee also8 &ule of ;trict Liability &ylands v.

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