Upset with verdict, victims to meet PM

Disappointed with the trial court’s verdict in the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984, survivors of the world’s worst industrial disaster that killed over 15,000 people, today said they would meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Law Minister M Veerappa Moily in this respect.

The affected people shared a common platform with various non-government organisations to demand a special prosecution cell so that the seven convicts should be punished.

The developments came a day after a Bhopal court sentenced former Union Carbide India chairman Keshub Mahindra and six others to two years’ imprisonment, following which they secured bail.

NGOs like Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationary Karmachari Sangh, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha, Bhopal Group for information and Action and Children Against Dow Carbide demanded that the CBI should bring Dow Chemicals, the owner of Union Carbide, to justice.

Abdul Jabbar, a member of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangh, said a group of affected people would soon meet the Prime Minister and the law minister to press for setting up a commission so that criminal proceedings can be initiated against the convicts.

The survivors said they would seek support from legal experts like Ram Jethmalani to analyse the finer points of the 300-page judgment.

“Once we receive the copy of the judgment, we will consult expert lawyers of the country to seek legal support. We do not want them (convicts) to go scot-free,” Satinath Sarangi, an activist and founder of the Sambhawna Trust said. “CBI must execute summons issued against the Dow Chemical by the Bhopal district court in January 2005 and take action on the basis of investigations on payment of $200,000 as a bribe to officials in the agriculture ministry. CBI needs to recognise that as the full owner of the absconding corporation, Dow Chemical is committing the crime of sheltering a fugitive from justice,” he added.