The National Green Tribunal's order on Visakhapatnam gas tragedy, found LG Polymers prima facie liable under the law principle of “strict liability”.
This liability was made redundant in India by the Supreme Court in 1986.
In 1986, the Supreme Court replaced it with the ‘absolute liability principle’ in the Oleum gas leak case of Delhi.
The principle of absolute liability is part of Article 21 (right to life).
Under the “strict liability principle”, a party is not liable and need not pay any compensation if a hazardous substance escapes his premises by accident or by an “act of God’” among other circumstances.