Ashish Ranjan
Tuesday, the Supreme Court denied the Centre’s petition for additional compensation from Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) for the victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.
In its curative petition, the Centre demanded an additional Rs 7,844 crore in addition to the $470 million already paid in a settlement in 1989 by Union Carbide (now Dow Chemicals), the American company whose plant in Bhopal emitted the highly toxic methyl isocyanate gas that killed over 3,000 people and maimed thousands more.
The five-judge bench led by Justice SK Kaul noted that settlements can only be voided on the basis of deception, but the government has not alleged fraud.”We are dissatisfied with the Union of India for failing to provide any justification for reviving this issue after two decades,” the apex court said, adding that the Centre’s request for “supplementary compensation” lacks a legal basis.
The bench slammed the Centre for “gross negligence” regarding the inadequacy of compensation for victims of the fatal gas leak and ordered the Union government to use the Rs 50 crore in the Reserve Bank of India to settle pending claims.
During an earlier hearing in the case, the successor firms of UCC argued to the Supreme Court that the depreciation of the rupee since 1989, when the settlement between the company and the Centre was reached, cannot be used as a basis to seek an increase in compensation for the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy.The firms informed the highest court that the Indian government never suggested that the settlement was inadequate at the time it was reached.
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At the time of the settlement in 1989, the Centre argued that the magnitude of the actual harm caused to human lives and the environment by the toxic gas leak could not be assessed accurately. Due to the unprecedented nature of the catastrophe, it had urged the court to grant enhanced compensation.
