Environment-Fixing Liability

Environment Fixing Liability THE Supreme Court judgment in the Shriram case is undoubtedly a trend-setter in the area of human rights jurisprudence. Not only has it made the notion of strict liability applicable under Indian law, but it has extended the concept of injury-based compensation so as to benefit the victim and in so doing has established the vitality of the Indian legal system to accommodate the "changing needs of a fast changing society and keep itself abreast with the economic developments taking place in the country". While this will undoubtedly prove a deterrent to the neglect of issues of industrial safety it is ironic that access to the legal recourse has itself been curtailed to the ordinary citizen in the Environment Act.