Bhopal Gas Tragedy: SC Rejects Centre’s Request for Additional Funds For Victims

BHOPAL: On Tuesday, the Supreme Court denied the Centre’s request for an additional Rs 7,844 crore in compensation from Union Carbide for the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984, which claimed over 3,000 lives.

The Centre had submitted a curative petition to the successor companies of Union Carbide Company (UCC) requesting further compensation for the families of those perished in the catastrophe.

The Centre had no justification, according to a five-judge constitutional bench presided over by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, to bring up the matter two decades after the settlement.

According to the top court, the Union of India must use the Rs 50 crore that is held by the RBI for the victims to settle any unresolved claims.

"We are dissatisfied with the Union of India for failing to provide a justification for raising this issue after twenty years. We are of the opinion that curative petitions cannot be accepted”, the bench stated. 

On January 12, the bench—which also included Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Abhay S. Oka, Vikram Nath, and J. K. Maheshwar—reserved its decision regarding the curative appeal of the Centre.

The Centre demanded an additional Rs 7,844 crore from the UCC's successor companies on top of the USD 470 million (Rs 715 crore) it had already received as part of the 1989 settlement from the American business.

Once an unfavourable decision has been made and the plaintiff's request for its reconsideration has been denied, the plaintiff's only option is to file a curative petition.

When the hazardous methyl isocyanate gas leak from the Union Carbide factory on the intervening nights of December 2 and 3, 1984, killed over 3,000 people and injured another 1.02 lakh, the UCC, now owned by Dow Chemicals, provided a USD 470 million settlement in 1989.

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