1. Absolute liability is the principle that can be used for claiming relief for Chintu and his friends.
2. Absolute Liability was introduced by the Supreme Court in the aftermath of the two instances of gas leaks from factories injuring many. The first case was about the infamous Bhopal gas leak disaster of 1984 and the second incident of 1985 in Delhi, due to leaked oleum gas.
3. The then Chief Justice of India P.N Bhagwati, in the famous 1987 case of M.C. Mehta v. Shri Ram Foods and Fertilizer Industries, held: "We are of the view that an enterprise, which is engaged in a hazardous or inherently dangerous industry, which poses a potential threat to the health and safety of the persons working in the factory and residing in the surrounding areas owes an absolute and non-delegable duty to the community to ensure that no harm results to any one on account of hazardous or inherently dangerous activity in which it is engaged must be conducted with the highest standards of safety and if any harm is done on account of such activity, the enterprise must be absolutely liable to compensate for such harm and it should be no answer to the enterprise to say that it had taken all reasonable care and that the harm occurred without any negligence on its part."
4. The principle of absolute liability has evolved from the principle of strict liability. Strict liability torts do not care about the intention or carelessness of the defendant when the defendant caused the injury. The claimant does not have to establish any sort of or level of blame attributable to the defendant based on the intention or the degree of carelessness. However Strict liability is available in a very limited context.
