Corporate Entities require land, labor, and capital to flourish and grow in their respective field. Labour is the only factor associated with life and is the superior factor that puts the other factors effectively in use. Unlike other factors, labor has additional requirements for its care and well-being. Safety is one such requirement and the Corporate Entity has to provide safe and appropriate environments for labor. Despite being amidst a pandemic we have come across several news articles reporting deaths across various industries. The Corporate Deaths which are routinely reported in the media refer to the deaths which take place in the Entity’s property due to negligence or lack of due diligence by the Entity. A common thing observed among all the instances is that the Company failed to perform its duty by endangering the lives of the labor. It is essential to understand the concept of Corporate Manslaughter existing in other countries to understand its application in India. Such a provision exists in countries like Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Corporate Manslaughter as a provision is present in countries like the United Kingdom and Australia that have enacted a specific provision that imposes a strict punishment on Corporates and their officials for deaths caused because of non-compliance with safety laws. In India, the law does not attribute criminal liability to Corporate Entities. The concept of Companies being criminally liable has evolved through case laws over the years, some of them are mentioned below for better understanding. The primary understanding before the case laws was that Companies not having a mind of their own cannot have the mental capacity to commit a crime. This viewpoint safeguarded the Companies from being criminally liable for decades as many offenses require the fulfillment of basic elements like mens rea and actus rea. The Latin Maxim of actus non facit reum, nisi mens sit rea is the rule of criminal liability which means that for one to be liable for a criminal act it must be shown that the act or omission has been done which was forbidden by law has been done intently by a guilty mind. In an ideal scenario, Corporate Deaths must be punishable under Section 304 of the IPC. This section refers to culpable homicide not amounting to murder; the imprisonment is for a longer duration and is a non-bailable offense. However, in various cases, it does become difficult to prove the knowledge and intention to cause deaths and therefore defeats the criteria to punish the Corporate and its Officials under Section 304 of the IPC. To bring about a disincentive effect, Section 304 seems appropriate but due to the absence of certain factors, the Corporate Officials are charged with Section 304A that refers to causing death by negligence and mandates imprisonment, fine, or both up to 2 years which is available.

This Article Does Not Intend To Hurt The Sentiments Of Any Individual Community, Sect, Or Religion Etcetera. This Article Is Based Purely On The Authors Personal Views And Opinions In The Exercise Of The Fundamental Right Guaranteed Under Article 19(1)(A) And Other Related Laws Being Force In India, For The Time Being.