Bhopal gas tragedy: SC expresses concern over non-payment of compensation

Why there is Rs 50 cr lying undisbursed, SC asks Centre

The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, while hearing the curative petition filed against Union Carbide Corporation (now Dow Chemicals) seeking additional compensation to the victims of the Bhopal Gas tragedy, asked the Union government why there is Rs 50 crore lying undisbursed.

The court asked when Union Carbide had already paid over $ 470 million to the Bhopal gas tragedy victims then how the settlement could be reopened.

A five-judge bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul also asked the Attorney General (AG) R Venkataramani, representing the Centre, said that if the settlement arrived at a particular stage of time, then can the court in 10 years hence, 20 years hence or 30 years hence, open the settlement based on fresh documents?

The bench -- also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, AS. Oka, Vikram Nath, and JK Maheshwari - said also asked whether fresh documents can be permitted in a curative petition. “If there is some data which has emerged we may or may not be inclined to do it. But, it cannot be a re-hearing,” the bench said.

Justice Kaul pointed out that no review was filed in the case and a curative petition was filed after 19 years. “What is the scope of such a curative petition, especially at this point?” he asked.

The Attorney General said there was an amendment to settlements. “We are not asking for a settlement to be annulled,” he added.

Senior Advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Dow Chemicals, said one important thing was that the Union of India filed the suit (abroad) and Union Carbide sought for a transfer to India. “An undertaking was provided that Union Carbide would abide by the jurisdiction of the Indian Court. This is how the suit started,” he said.

The Centre on October 11, 2022, told the Supreme Court "it is keen" to pursue its 12-year-old curative petition seeking more than Rs 7,500 crore(75 billion) more from Dow Chemicals, Union Carbide and others for deaths and injuries caused by the 1984 Bhopal gas leak.

Senior advocate Sanjay Parikh, representing the victims, had argued that over the years, the tragedy’s intensity has increased fivefold, that is, deaths, the number of victims, and the extent of injuries.

Union Carbide, which is now a subsidiary of Dow Chemicals, has paid more than Rs 3,900 crore(39 billion) as compensation for the leak from its plant. A curative petition is the last resort available to a person after a review petition is dismissed.

On September 20, 2022, the Supreme Court asked the government if it wanted to pursue its curative petition.

As many as 5,295 people died and 568,292 were injured when a highly toxic gas called Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) leaked from the Union Carbide India’s plant in Bhopal in the early hours of December 3, 1984.