(a) 'If an enterprise is permitted to carry on any hazardous or inherently dangerous activity for its profits, the cost of any accident arising on account of such activity must be an appropriate term of overheads.' Comment. (M. C. Mehta v. U.O.I.) 20

Question

(b) 'Kidnapping is a substantive offence while abduction is not an offence exclusively. It becomes offence, when committed with a criminal intent.' Explain. 15

(c) 'The offence of abetment depends upon the intention of the abettor not upon the act committed by the abetted person.' Explain. 15

UPSC Answer Check · Accepted Answer

Absolute liability
The statement is substantially correct. In M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (1987), the Supreme Court held that an enterprise carrying on hazardous or inherently dangerous activity for profit is absolutely liable for injury caused by it. The liability is no-fault, non-delegable and non-defensible; even reasonable care, act of God or third-party fault does not excuse it. The Court distinguished Rylands v. Fletcher, where strict liability was limited to non-natural use and allowed defences, as inadequate for modern industrial hazards. The constitutional basis is Articles 21, 47 and 48-A, requiring protection of life, public health and the environment. The “deep pocket” theory makes the enterprise, not the victim, bear the cost, because it can spread the loss through insurance, pricing and safety investment. Thus the accident cost is a social overhead that must be internalised. The Oleum Gas Leak case (1996) reinforced this, treating compensation as a term of doing business; later environmental jurisprudence treats industrial harm as a cost of production. Profit from hazard must therefore carry its risk.

Kidnapping and abduction
Kidnapping under Sections 359 to 361 IPC is a substantive offence because the law attaches criminality to the act itself. Section 359 criminalises taking or inducing a person to go, or confining him, with intent to send him beyond India or to confine him for an offence, terror or any unlawful purpose. The specific intent to remove or confine unlawfully makes kidnapping substantive; the age distinction—minor under 16/18, and, in the relevant kidnapping provisions, a woman of any age—makes consent irrelevant; kidnapping from lawful guardianship under Section 361 is complete without any further act such as murder or ransom. Abduction under Section 362 IPC is only compelling a person to go by force or inducing him to go by deception. It is not an offence exclusively; it becomes an offence only when coupled with the criminal intent specified in Sections 364 to 369, such as abduction for murder, ransom, theft, or outrage to modesty. Thus kidnapping has inherent criminality, while abduction acquires criminal character only through the purpose for which it is done.

Abetment
The offence of abetment under Sections 107 to 120 IPC depends on the intention of the abettor, not on the act committed by the abetted person. Section 107 defines abetment as instigating, conspiring, or intentionally aiding an offence. The abettor’s mens rea—knowledge, intention or reckless disregard of the probable consequence—is the sole determinant of liability. Illustration (a) to Section 107 shows that A who abets B to commit suicide is liable for abetment of suicide even if the act is not completed in the ordinary sense. Section 108 makes the abettor liable when the abetted person is incapable, the act is not done, or it is done but no offence is committed, provided the abettor had the requisite intention. This independence was affirmed in Faguna Kanta Nath v. State of Assam (1959) and Sanju v. State of M.P., where the Court held that abetment is a distinct offence and does not require the principal offence to be completed. It differs from criminal conspiracy under Section 120B, an agreement to commit an offence; abetment may exist without prior agreement, and conspiracy without overt abetment.

Conclusion
These doctrines balance individual rights and social interests. Absolute liability makes hazardous enterprise pay for the risks it creates; kidnapping and abduction protect personal liberty and lawful guardianship; abetment punishes dangerous intention that facilitates crime. The statement in part (a) is therefore correct, while parts (b) and (c) show that criminal law distinguishes inherently wrongful acts from acts that become wrongful only through intent.

(a) 'If an enterprise is permitted to carry on any hazardous or inherently dangerous activity for its profits, the cost of any…

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