Supreme Court allows prosecution of company without naming officers

The case concerns whether a corporate entity can be prosecuted for criminal offences requiring mens rea (such as conspiracy and corruption) without any of its individual officers or employees being named as co-accused. The Supreme Court is reviewing the High Court's refusal to quash the criminal proceedings against the company.

Appellant: Sanofi India Ltd.; Respondent: Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI); Bench: Justice J.B. Pardiwala.

• The Court granted leave to appeal.
• The Court framed the specific issue: Whether the High Court ought to have quashed the criminal proceedings against the Appellant company on the ground that no natural person had been identified and arraigned alongside it.
• The Court initiated an analysis of corporate criminal liability, specifically examining the 'identification principle' and the attribution of mens rea to corporations under Indian and English law.

Written from the document by AI, and checked against it. The original below is authoritative.

The original document