Cognizance Of Offences

Section 43 of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 states that:

1. No court shall take cognizance of any offence under this Act except on a complaint made by –
1. a Board or any officer authorized in this behalf; or
2. any person who has given notice of not less than sixty days, in the manner prescribed, of the alleged offence and of his intention to make a complaint to the Board or officer authorized as aforesaid. For this purpose, no court inferior to that of a Metropolitan Magistrate or a Judicial Magistrate of the first class shall try any offence punishable under this Act.
2. Where a complaint has been made under clause (b) of sub-section (1), the Board shall, on demand by such person, make available the relevant reports in its possession to that person; provided that the Board may refuse to make any such report available to such person if the same is, in its opinion, against the public interest.

Cognizance means the action of taking jurisdiction. Thus under this Act, the court shall only intervene and give its jurisdiction only if an explicit complaint is made under sub-section 1. Also, no court that is inferior to Metropolitan Magistrate or a Judicial Magistrate of the first class, shall try any offence under this Act. The said offence under this Act can be made by either a company or the Government.

Offence by Companies – When an offence has been committed by a company under this Act, then every person who was directly in-charge of the conduct of business of the company at the time the offence was committed, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. If the offence has been committed with the consent of any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company, then such person shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence. However, no such person should be held responsible for the offence if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.

Offences by Government Departments – Where an offence has been committed by any Department of Government, the Head of the Department shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. If the offence has been committed with the consent of any officer, other than the Department Head, then such officer also shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence. However, the Head of the Department shall not be held responsible for the offence, if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.

Also, no prosecution, suit or other legal proceedings shall lie against the Government or any of its officers, or any member of the Board in respect of anything which is done or intended to be done in good faith.