The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to clarify its stand on whether it wants to go ahead with its curative petition seeking Rs 7,844 crore as additional funds from successor firms of the US-based Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) for giving compensation to victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.
NGOs working for the rights of the survivors of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster on Wednesday alleged that various governments in Madhya Pradesh and at the Centre have failed to bring the culprits of the world's biggest industrial tragedy to justice even after 37 years.
'I would like to request the AERB, UCIL and DAE to introspect. The world is changing, so is India. The wave of development and modernity will not stop for those who continue to live in the past. The future belongs to the youth who believe in the values of honesty, transparency and efficiency.'
The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Union Carbide Corporation, Dow Chemicals and others on a Centre's plea seeking enhancement of compensation to the victims of 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy from Rs 750 crore to Rs 7,700 crore.
The clean up issue, ignored in the Bhopal gas tragedy settlement, emerged 20 years later, with the government trying to hold Dow Chemicals, UCIL's successor, liable on the 'polluter pays' principle. From the legal perspective, for the victims, efforts at Anderson's extradition or a Law Ministry face off with Dow on cleanup are pointless, writes Kumkum Sen
Former Union Carbide India chairman Keshub Mahindra and four others, who were convicted on June 7 in the Bhopal gas leak case, were on Tuesday granted bail by a local court. UCIL former managing director Vijay Gokhle, former vice president Kishore Kamdar, former works manager J Mukund and former production manager S P Choudhry were granted bail by Chief Judicial Magistrate R V Singh.