Liability is a legal obligation owed by one party to another who has been injured or whose property has been damaged.
You are liable if the judicial process finds you guilty for harming another person (bodily injury) or damage another person’s property. You’ll be legally compelled to recompense the victim in some way if you’re proved accountable. In general, a person is responsible for his or her own wrongdoings, but not for the wrongdoings of others. In some situations, such as vicarious liability, one person may be held liable for the actions of another. There are two types of liability: strict and absolute liability.

The case of Rylands v Fletcher[1] established the strict responsibility theory. The strict responsibility concept, established in 1868, provides that anyone who stores hazardous substances on his premises will be held liable if those substances escape and cause damage. It is a legal notion that holds a party (defendant) accountable for their conduct without the plaintiff having to prove the defendant’s negligence or guilt. When someone engages in ultra-risky activities like maintaining wild animals, using explosives, or manufacturing defective items, he or she may be held accountable if another person is injured as a result of that conduct. In the case of Rylands v. Fletcher, the defendant had a reservoir built by an independent contractor. There were ancient, unused shafts beneath the reservoir site that the contractors failed to notice and hence did not block. When the reservoir was full, the water broke through the shafts and swamped the plaintiff’s coal mines on adjacent property. Despite the fact that the defendant was unaware of the shaft and had not been careless, he was held accountable. This is also known as “no-fault” liability. The responsibility recognized in this case was’strict liability,’ which means that even if the defendant was not negligent or caused any intended harm, he might still be held accountable under the rule.

The next is absolute liabilty , In simple terms, the rule of absolute liability is the rule of strict liability minus the exclusions. In the case of MC Mehta v Union of India, the rule of absolute liability was established in India , The facts of the case are that some oleum gas leaked in a particular area in Delhi from industry. Due to the leakage, many people were affected. The Apex Court then evolved the rule of absolute liability on the rule of strict liability and stated that the defendant would be liable for the damage caused without considering the exceptions to the strict liability rule [2]. According to the rule of absolute liability, if a person is engaged in an inherently dangerous or hazardous activity and any harm is caused to another person as a result of an accident that occurred while performing such an inherently dangerous and hazardous activity, the person who is engaged in such activity will be held absolutely liable. It would also be an exception to the strict responsibility rule.

The last is vicarious liability , The vicarious liability rule holds one person responsible for the actions of another. Normally, the individual who commits the wrongdoing should be held solely responsible for the harm that results from it, but the notion of vicarious liability is an exception. To hold a person accountable for an act committed by another person, there must be a certain form of relationship between the two people, and the wrongful conduct committed must be tied to that relationship in some way. Principal-agent relationships, master-servant relationships, and partner relationships are all examples of such relationships.

References- [1] https://blog.ipleaders.in/concept-strict-liability-absolute-liability/

[2] https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-4532-liability-strict-liability-absolute-liability-and-vicarious-liability-under-law-of-tort.html

Aishwarya Says:

I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.

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