Bhopal gas tragedy: No more compensation for victims; SC rejects Centre’s plea

On March 14, a five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul dismissed the Centre's curative plea for enhanced compensation for the victims of the 1984 Bhopal Gas tragedy from US-based firm Union Carbide Corporation, now owned by Dow Chemicals. The court mandated that the Government of India use the ₹50 crore being held by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to pay off outstanding debts.

The court said that reopening the case would open a pandora's box and would be detrimental to the claimants, adding that the curative petition cannot be entertained. The court also noted that the failure to take insurance policies is gross negligence on the part of the Government of India.

On January 12, the Supreme Court reserved its verdict on the Centre's curative plea for enhanced compensation for the victims of the 1984 Bhopal Gas tragedy from US-based firm Union Carbide Corporation, now owned by Dow Chemicals. The plea sought a direction to Union Carbide and other firms for over ₹7,400 crore additional amount over and above the earlier settlement amount of $470 million (RS 715 crore at the time of settlement in 1989) for paying compensation to the gas tragedy victims.

During the hearing, the successor firms of the Union Carbide Corporation told the apex court that the depreciation of the rupee since 1989, when a settlement was reached between the company and the Centre, cannot be a ground to now seek a top-up of compensation for the victims. Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for one of the firms, had told the top court that the government of India never suggested at the time of the settlement that it was inadequate.

The Bhopal gas tragedy claimed the lives of several thousand people after deadly gas leaked from the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984. It resulted in the death of 5,295 human beings, injuries to almost 5,68,292 persons, and loss of livestock. The apex court had already dismissed a curative petition filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2010 for enhancement of punishment.

The agency had approached the Supreme Court after facing public outcry over a Bhopal court order that sentenced Union Carbide executives to two years imprisonment, including former Union Carbide India chairman Keshub Mahindra. Dismissing the CBI's curative plea in 2011, the top court held that no satisfactory explanation had been given to file such curative petitions after about 14 years from the 1996 judgement.

(With agency inputs)