Corporate Liability: A Conceptual Study and Procedural Aspects under Indian Scenario

Abstract

With the expansion of trade and methodology of carrying it posed various challenges including for proceeding against wrong committed by corporation through its directors and/or functionaries once corporation has been given legal status as a ‘juristic person’, separate and distinct from its members, the ascertainment of corporate liability  cris crossed its field of operation overlapping the liability under core criminal law and the liability under special laws , besides the civil liability. In addition, the liability for Mis-feasance, Non-feasance and Mal-feasance emerging in common law entered the arena of statutory laws under Indian scenario. In almost all the jurisdictions of developed countries ‘person’ includes the incorporated entities especially corporations/companies, despite the position  that the company does not have a brain or soul of its own, it can be held liable for both civil and criminal liabilities. The Liability is not so simple to trace but is divergent as reflected from different statutes including the vicarious nature of liability. There are core statutes like Civil  and Criminal Procedure Code on one side but on the other there do exist the Tribunals to address some spheres of Corporate Liability for which the special laws have created substantive obligation for breach of which a liability both Civil and Criminal . The Statue also in limited areas addressed the liability for Mis-feasance, Non-feasance and Mal-feasance. The concern of the Research Article is to ascertain the areas of Corporate Liability from divergent statutes, procedure for proceeding and procedures applicable . For this purpose topic titled as ‘Corporate Liability : A Conceptual Study and Procedural Aspects under Indian Scenario’ is deliberated on doctrinal methodology on the strength of primary and secondary source of data where by one sores of date is corroborated with other for arriving at conclusions and suggestions