Get Anderson: ministers tell government

Agencies

New Delhi, 21 June 2010: A group of ministers (GoM) on the Bhopal gas tragedy has recommended that the government take fresh steps to extradite Union Carbide Corp chief Warren Anderson and file a “curative petition” in the Supreme Court against the 1996 judgment that diluted charges against the accused.

CNN-IBN learns the GoM has recommended increasing the compensation for every person who died and those left permanently disabled due to the gas tragedy to Rs 10 lakh.

 

 

It has recommended that Central government and the Madhya Pradesh government to be involved in cleaning up the toxic waste at the Union Carbide plant. This effectively means that Dow Chemicals, which bought Union Carbide in 2001, has been exempted from cleaning up the toxic waste.

Official sources said the curative petition will focus on criminal liability of the accused and seek more stringent charges as the apex court had diluted the IPC section under culpable homicide not amounting to murder against the accused to negligence on their part.

The GoM, which is headed by Home Minister P Chidambaram, discussed various issues relating to criminal and civil liability, relief and rehabilitation and remediation in the wake of the Bhopal court verdict in the case two weeks ago.

Chidambaram told CNN-IBN the GoM’s “focus” was to help victims of the gas tragedy. "Our focus now is on bringing relief to the people who have suffered as a result of this ghastly tragedy. There are thousands of people who continue to suffer. The government of India is extremely sympathetic to their plight," he said.

"The GoM is not over--we will continue to address issues as a when they come up. But (for) the immediate requirement, we have made a report and this report will be considered by the Cabinet."

"The Prime Minister indicated to me that he will hold a special meeting of the cabinet on June 25, Friday, to consider the report of the GoM," said Chidambaram.

Over 15,000 people died when deadly methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked from Union Carbide’s Bhopal plant on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984.