Madhya Pradesh to appeal against Bhopal verdict
By IANSWednesday, June 9, 2010
BHOPAL - Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said Wednesday that the government will file an appeal in the high court seeking enhancement of the punishment awarded to seven convicts in the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.
A five-member committee of legal experts is being constituted to study the verdict before going in for the appeal, he told reporters.
“Since the verdict is disappointing, we have decided to file an appeal to get justice for the victims and to get the sentence of the convicts increased,” Chouhan said.
Over 25 years after a gas leak from a Union Carbide plant killed thousands here, a court Monday held seven accused guilty of criminal negligence in the world’s worst industrial disaster and sentenced them to two years jail. They were later released on bail.
The Bhopal court also imposed a fine of Rs.100,000 on the seven, including Keshub Mahindra, who then headed the Union Carbide India Ltd (UCIL) from whose pesticide plant tonnes of lethal gas leaked on the night of Dec 2-3, 1984, killing thousands instantly and many more later.
Chouhan said the committee has been asked to present its preliminary findings with 10 days and submit the final report in a month.
He said that until now the state government did not want to interfere in the matter as the case was being handled by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the central government.
The members of the committee include Additional Solicitor General of India Vivek Tankha, Madhya Pradesh Advocate General R.D. Jain, senior lawyer Shantilal Lodha and former advocate general Anand Mohan Mathur.
