Keshub Mahindra gets bail in Bhopal gas leak case

The sessions court here today granted conditional bail to former Union Carbide India Ltd (UCIL) chairman Keshub Mahindra who was convicted in the 1984 Bhopal gas leak case.

The court, however, reserved its order on the bail application of six other UCIL executives who were also convicted in the case last month.

District and Session Judge Subhash Kakde granted bail to Mahindra on condition that he would attend the court’s proceeding regularly and would not leave the country without its permission.

Judge Kakde asked Mahindra to furnish personal and security bond of Rs one lakh each.

The court reserved its order on the bail plea of six other convicts —UCIL’s former MD Vijay Gokhale, former vice-president Kishore Kamdar, former works manager J Mukund, former production manager S P Choudhary, former plant superintendent K V Shetty and former operator S I Qureshi.

On June 7, a local court found all the seven convicts guilty for the toxic leak from the now-defunct Union Carbide factory in 1984 and awarded them two-year imprisonment.