Lucknow, April 17 -- The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has held that the board of directors is collectively responsible for the conduct of a company's business and cannot be easily absolved from liability in cases of environmental pollution.

With this observation, the court dismissed two applications filed by directors of M/s Simplex Infrastructures Limited seeking to quash criminal proceedings initiated by the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB).

Justice Brij Raj Singh passed the judgment on April 15 on two applications filed by Rajiv Mundhra and Bithal Das Mundhra and another person separately.

The matter arose from a complaint case of 2021, filed by the UPPCB against M/s Simplex Infrastructures Limited under Se...