Vansh Dhoka, School of Law Christ University, Bangalore
ABSTRACT
Ever since the evolution of the concept of corporations as separate legal entities has come into existence, the judiciary has always experienced a dilemma while imposing liability on it. As per the principle of natural justice and fundamentals of criminal law, any person who has committed a crime with a guilty mind shall be tried, prosecuted, investigated and punished. But the corporeal positioning of the corporation casts an obstacle in imprisoning or hanging the corporation. This article primarily unfolds the development of corporate liability as a concept and strives to highlight the various liability principles that proved essential to declare an act wrongful. In furtherance to it, the imposition of penalty directly on the minds behind it through lifting the corporate veil invites a sense of dissatisfaction from individuals and the same impacts on the investments facilitated by those minds. However, it is also unacceptable in this fast-growing world if the adjudicating authority provides privileges to corporations by turning ignorant. The article also probes into how corporate criminal liability evolved in India.
Moreover, the author also attempts to evaluate the concept of corporate criminal liability by virtue of the landmark cases decided by the Indian judiciary. Corporate businesses have grown to be a significant part of society. Given the corporation's widespread use in numerous societal, commercial, political and economic realms in our value systems, determining corporate criminal responsibility becomes critical. Although it is still in its infancy, corporate criminal behaviour was never seen as a crime in the usual sense. However, the present work still aims at flourishing the concept and provides suggestions and recommendations to turn the idea fundamental and dutiful.
Keywords: Criminal liability, Identification, Guilty mind, Legal personality, corporate governance,
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