Who's Liable: The Company Or Its Directors: Landmark Supreme Court Judgement

On 27 September, 2021, a division bench of the Supreme Court of India (“Apex Court”), comprising of Hon’ble Justice M.R. Shah and Hon’ble Justice A.S. Bopanna, in Ravindranatha Bajpe v. Mangalore Special Economic Zone Ltd. & Ors, took cognizance of its previously passed judgments, on the vicarious liabilities of the key personnel of a company in criminal matters and held that merely because an individual is a Chairman, Managing Director/ Executive Director and/ or Planner/ Supervisor of a company, they cannot be held vicariously liable unless specific allegations are levied against them with respect to their individual role in a criminal case.