Bhopal gas tragedy verdict slated for June 7

BHOPAL - The verdict in the Bhopal Gas tragedy will be pronounced June 7 - 26 years after the disaster.

The date was announced by Chief Judicial Magistrate Mohan P. Tiwari in whose court the arguments of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and defence of eight accused were heard. Altogether 178 prosecution witnesses were examined and 3,008 documents exhibited.

CBI counsel had contended that the defective design of the Union Carbide India Limited factory and poor maintenance were responsible for the tragedy while the defence advocates refuted the charges and claimed that the firm’s Bhopal factory adhered to the strictest safety norms.

CBI counsel C. Sahay told the court that the Union Carbide Corporation, US, surveyed the Bhopal factory in 1982 and found serious safety and maintenance lapses on nearly 10 counts.

Defence counsels D.Prasad and Amit Desai, however, refuted the prosecution charge that the company had decided to dismantle and shift its Bhopal plant to a foreign country following financial losses and, therefore, the factory was not in a good shape.

The eight accused have been tried under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including section 304 (A) (causing death by negligence), 336 (acts endangering life or personal safety of others) and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others).

The accused are: Keshub Mahendra, then chairman of the company; Vijay Gokhle, then managing director; Kishore Kamdar, then vice preside; J. Mukund, then works manager; S.P. Choudhary, then production manager; K.V. Shetty, then plant superintendent; and S.I. Qureshi, then production assistant.

The former chairman of the Union Carbide Corporation, Warren Anderson - who is also accused - is absconding.

The December 1984 tragedy occurred when the toxic leak from the Union Carbide Corporation’s now defunct pesticide plant in the Madhya Pradesh capital killed and maimed thousands of people on the intervening night of December 2-3.