M. C. Mehta v. Union of India
M.C. Mehta v. Union of India originated in the aftermath of oleum gas leak from Shriram Food and Fertilisers Ltd. complex at Delhi. This gas leak occurred soon after the infamous Bhopal gas leak and created a lot of panic in Delhi. One person died in the incident and a few were hospitalized. The case lays down the principle of absolute liability and the concept of deep pockets. Preliminary objection of the defendants. There was only one preliminary objection filed by the counsel for the defendant, and this was that the Court should  not proceed to decide these constitutional issues since there was no claim for compensation originally made in the writ petition and these issues could not be said to arise on the writ petition. However, the Court, while rejecting this objection, said that though it is undoubtedly true that the petitioner could have applied for amendment of the writ petition to include a compensation claim but merely because he did not do so, the applications for compensation cannot be thrown out. These applications for compensation are for enforcement of the fundamental right to life enshrined in Article 21 of the  Constitution and while dealing with such applications we cannot adopt a hyper-technical approach that would defeat the ends of justice. Order of the court. The Supreme Court made the following observation: Thus the High Court was directed to nominate one or more Judges as may be necessary for the purpose of trying such actions so that they may be expeditiously disposed of. Simply because the gas caused death and many people were hospitalised.