International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

E-ISSN: 2582-2160   •   Impact Factor: 9.24

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Environmental Homicide Can Indian Criminal Law Punish Death Caused by Corporate Pollution

Author(s) Mr. Ramnadh Velaga
Country India
Abstract Industrialisation has created a recurring legal problem in India: when corporate pollution causes human death, should the resulting liability remain within environmental regulation and negligence law, or can criminal homicide provisions be invoked? This paper examines that question through the framework of Indian criminal law, environmental jurisprudence and corporate criminal liability. It analyses the transition from the Indian Penal Code to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the constitutional environmental principles developed by the Supreme Court, the absolute liability doctrine in M.C. Mehta v. Union of India, and the criminal proceedings arising from the Bhopal gas disaster. It is argued that Indian law does not recognise a separate offence called environmental homicide, but deaths caused by corporate pollution can, in appropriate factual circumstances, attract the ordinary law of culpable homicide or murder where the required mental element and causal connection are established. The principal difficulty is not the absence of a homicide provision but proof of causation, attribution of corporate conduct to responsible individuals, and the distinction between knowledge, recklessness, negligence and mere regulatory breach. The paper proposes a calibrated approach in which environmental evidence, corporate decision-making records, foreseeability of harm and compliance history are integrated into criminal adjudication without converting every industrial accident into homicide. Such an approach can strengthen accountability while preserving the principles of legality, individual culpability and proof beyond reasonable doubt.
Keywords Environmental Homicide, Corporate Pollution, Culpable Homicide, Corporate Criminal Liability, Environmental Law, Bhopal Gas Disaster
Published In Volume 8, Issue 4, July-August 2026
Published On 2026-08-28
DOI https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i04.86661
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