Case Comment on Indian Oil Corporation V. NPEC India Ltd. & Ors

Abstract

It is often the case that the same subject matter gives rise to civil and criminal proceedings. There are several areas of law where remedy is provided under both the systems. They include civil wrongs such as defamation and breach of trust among others that constitute offences as well. These subject matters make for clear cases of overlap and the parties usually have the option to choose between civil and criminal proceedings based on the relief they intend to seek. However, there are some matters where there is a clearly made out civil case and yet the relevant parties opt for a criminal prosecution. There may be several reasons for the same ranging from a mere ignorance of law to mala fide intent to cause hardship to the defendant in question. It is important to analyze the specific facts and first assess if there is ample ground for overlapping civil and criminal proceedings before an attempt is made to decipher the intent behind criminalization of cases that bear the nature of a civil proceeding. It is also important to note that there may be several cases where the distinction is murky, and the parties should not be held liable in those situations. Indian Oil Corporation v. National Power Engineering Company (2006) is one such case that demonstrates that the criminalization of civil proceedings is not always the sole result of the conduct of the parties. The paper aims to critically analyze the judgment.