Accidents, Mines Offences and Offences by Companies

In one line

A breach that causes death can mean two years and a five lakh rupee fine, half of which may go to the family; working on despite a stop order is punished separately; a mine manager must be appointed on pain of prosecution; an employee may be fined; and where a company offends, the person in charge of its business is guilty too.

In exam wording: section 103 of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code 2020 punishes a contravention that has resulted in an accident or dangerous occurrence causing death, with imprisonment up to two years or a fine of not less than five lakh rupees or both, and causing serious bodily injury with imprisonment up to one year or a fine of two to four lakh rupees or both, the court being empowered to direct that not less than fifty per cent of the fine be given as compensation to the victim or his legal heirs, and doubling the punishment on a second conviction; section 104 punishes continuing to work in contravention of an order under section 38; section 105 punishes failure to appoint a manager in a mine; section 106 penalises offences by employees and protects the employer where the employee is convicted; section 107 requires the prosecution of a mine's owner, agent or manager to be at the instance of specified officers; section 108 allows such a person or a factory occupier to bring the actual offender before the court; and section 109 makes the person in charge of a company's business, and consenting or neglectful officers, guilty of the company's offence.

Why the law has this at all

Chapter XII is mostly about paperwork and process. These seven sections are about the two things that make labour law criminal law at all: somebody was hurt, and somebody must answer for it.

Section 103 is the accident section, and it is the one place in the Code where the punishment is graded by what happened to a person rather than by which provision was broken. Two things distinguish it. The fine has a floor of five lakh rupees where the accident caused death, which is unusual in Indian penal statutes of this kind. And the proviso lets the court send at least half of it to the victim or to his legal heirs, which converts a fine into compensation without any separate claim.

Section 104 is about defiance. An order under section 38 is the inspector's power to stop dangerous work. Working on regardless is treated more seriously than the original contravention.

Sections 105, 107 and 108 are mines and factories provisions with a long ancestry. A mine must have a manager; a mine's owner, agent or manager may not be prosecuted at the instance of anybody who chooses; and a person charged as the responsible officer may bring forward the person who actually did it.