Bhopal gas tragedy: Setback for Centre as SC dismisses plea for additional compensation for victims
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court refused to entertain a curative petition filed by the Centre demanding an additional compensation of Rs.7,400 crore from the successor firms of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) for the victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy that killed over 3,000 people and caused environmental damage.
A five-judge bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said the Centre’s plea is not maintainable in law and lacked merits on the facts of this case. The bench said the Centre’s claim for a top-up on compensation for the Bhopal gas tragedy victims has no foundation and added that either settlement is valid or set aside where it is vitiated by fraud.
“No such fraud has been impleaded by the Union of India and their only contention relates to the number of victims and injuries…,” noted the bench while dismissing the Centre’s plea.
It also called out the Union government for “negligence”. The bench added that the responsibility was on the Union of India to make good the deficiency in the compensation and the failure to take insurance policies is gross negligence on the part of the Centre. Detailed judgment on the matter will be uploaded later in the day.
On January 12, the top court reserved its verdict on the Centre’s curative petition seeking an additional Rs.7,400 crore from the successor firms of UCC for extending greater compensation to the victims.
During the hearing, the successor firms of the UCC had told the Supreme Court that the Indian government never suggested at the time of settlement (of 1989) that it was inadequate. The firm’s counsel emphasized that the depreciation of the rupee since 1989, cannot become a ground to seek a top-up of compensation now for the Bhopal gas tragedy victims.
Senior advocate Harish Salve, representing successor firms of the UCC, submitted before a bench — also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Abhay S Oka, Vikram Nath, and J K Maheshwari — that there are affidavits starting from 1995 and ending as late as 2011, where the Indian government has opposed every single attempt to suggest that the settlement is inadequate.
The top court had grilled Attorney General R Venkataramani, representing the Centre, on how the government could file a curative petition without filing the review. It told the AG that the central government was not prohibited from granting relief to the Bhopal gas tragedy victims, and it cannot absolve itself from the welfare state principle saying, “I will take it from them (successor firms of Union Carbide Corporation), as and when taken from them, I will pay…”
[With Inputs from IANS]
PGurus is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with all the latest news and views
For all the latest updates, download PGurus App.
- PM Modi launches another scathing attack on Congress; says ‘Rajiv Gandhi scrapped inheritance law to save family property’ - April 25, 2024
- TN: ED questions five district collectors in illegal sand mining case - April 25, 2024
- ECI issues show cause notice over alleged MCC violations by PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi; seeks response from BJP, Congress chief - April 25, 2024
Victims did suffer. Govt ditched or dumped them. Politicians & Leaders have failed the citizens (victims). 35 years passed. Time to move on.
The leak took place in 1984 and settlement arrived at in 1889 both under corrupt and compromised administration. The opposition to suggestions that the compensation was inadequate till 2011 only proves how deep the rot was. Was it by any stretch of imagination possible to predict in 1989, the consequential hazards, the exposed and unborn population would be faced with and quantify the resources need to help them or compensate them? The governments should be in continuum but not the corruption. But then why worry about what we have in plenty.