Conundrum of Absolute Liability in Indian Environmental Jurisprudence

The rule of Strict Liability laid down in Rylands vs Fletcher more than a century ago, has almost stood the test of time, with certain exceptions being introduced to it. The rule has somewhat merged into the principle of Negligence. But the Indian Supreme Court took the opportunity to lay down an even stricter version of Rylands vs Fletcher rule, in the form of 'Absolute Liability' in the Oleum Gas Leak case of 1986. However, the applicability and correctness of that landmark judgment of the Indian Supreme Court has been rarely questioned or reviewed, leading to a situation where practitioners and Tribunals in the country are still puzzled about the prevailing position of law and the practicality of these archaic concepts in the contemporary times. This paper argues that these principles of Strict Liability, Absolute Liability and Negligence are more overlapping than distinct. This confusion can be reasonably resolved by accepting this conceptual convergence, flexibly reading the statutory mandate in India, and taking inspiration from the development of these concepts in the Common Law Countries