Introduction to the Project The law that prevails in the glorious subcontinent of India aims at providing justice in a manner fair to all. But with that comes the culpability of an offense ,that people want to escape. This can be clearly seen in the case of the collapse of the 60th section of the Vivekananda Flyover in Kolkata under construction by IVRCL Ltd. that lead to 27 deaths, left 80 injured and many families grieving in the high profile commercial region of Kolkata. The simplest explanation that drew my attention to this tragedy was its explanation by the company as “an act of God”. “An act of God” as a defence cannot be applied to any case or scenario, it does not come to the rescue of any person any time as per his/her whims. The …show more content…
In the case so far, 16 persons were arrested on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and other related charges. All 16 are out on bail, they include 10 high-level officials of IVRCL, 2 senior officials of Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority. The charges are under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308(attempt to commit culpable homicide), 427(mischief causing damage to the amount of Rs 50) and 34(acts done by several persons for a common intention). The police have reported that after lab results the steel used to fabricate the pillars was way below standard strength required. There are also findings that the designs were also not duly approved by the independent approval body-Jadavpur University. The article in The Indian Express differentiates between ‘vis major’ or ‘act of god’ and ‘Force majeure’- a superior force that can in no case be anticipated or controlled by human power. They have the similarity of originating from the same Theory but a difference in their application. The defence becomes of no use if any ‘contributory negligence’ is associated with the wrath of nature. A party escaping from culpability will have to prove that it had no relation in causing the damage that so