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Bhopal victims sue Union Carbide

Gail Appleson in New York

Fifteen years after thousands were killed in a poison gas leak at a Union Carbide Corporation pesticide plant in Bhopal, survivors and relatives of victims have sued the company on Monday for ''depraved indifference to human life.''

The suit, filed in Manhattan federal court yesterday, also names former chairman Warren Anderson as a defendant. The case seeks unspecified damages and wants the federal court to take back control of litigation that was first filed here against Union Carbide by the Indian government but was moved to India in 1986 for jurisdictional reasons.

Although the Indian government's civil case against Carbide was settled in 1989 for 470 million dollars, criminal matters against the defendants are still pending in India.

Kenneth McCallion, lawyer for the victims and family members, said a key issue in the suit filed yesterday is the 1986 ruling that granted Union Carbide's request to have the government's case tried in India.

However, to have the case moved to India, where damage awards are much lower, Union Carbide had to agree to submit to the jurisdiction of Indian courts.

The suit alleges that Union Carbide and Anderson have violated that ruling by failing to appear in the Indian court concerned on criminal matters over the past seven years.

The suit alleges that they violated international law and fundamental human rights for their ''depraved indifference to human life'' in the design and operation of the Indian plant.

The suit also seeks to have the defendants held liable for civil contempt and fraud for failing to comply with orders from courts both in India and the United States.

Carbide said in a statement that it had not reviewed the suit but ''all personal injury and related claims ... were settled in 1989 when Union Carbide and Union Carbide India Limited agreed to and paid 470 million dollars to the government of India on behalf of all the victims.''

The litigation stems from the December 2, 1984, disaster that occurred at Union Carbide of India's pesticide plant when a tank leaked five tonnes of poisonous methyl isocyanate gas into the air. Authorities said at the time it was the worst industrial accident in history, killing more than 3,000 people and permanently injuring tens of thousands. Victims groups now put the fatality toll as high as 6,000.

Although the Indian government accepted the 470 million dollars payment from Carbide, victims groups challenged the settlement as too low. There was also a dispute over claims by Union Carbide that the terms of the settlement protected it from criminal proceedings.

In 1991, the Supreme Court of India affirmed the settlement figure but ruled that the accord did not stop any criminal case against Carbide. Criminal proceedings against Carbide and Anderson have been pending since 1992 in India, McCallion said, but the lawsuit filed yesterday alleges that Carbide has failed to appear in court to respond to the charges.

The suit alleged that Carbide had been served with summons through the US justice department and Interpol and a notification for the company to appear for trial was even published in The Washington Post.

A Bhopal court ruled that the company and Anderson were ''proclaimed absconders,'' or fugitives under Indian law, and ordered forfeiture of their property, the suit said.

In August, Dow Chemical Company said it planned to acquire Union Carbide, creating the world's second largest chemical company. The merger is expected to be completed next year.

Reuters

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