-
Bhopal verdict is Second Judicial Disaster: SDPI
New Delhi: The Social Democratic Party of India, (SDPI), while vehemently deploring the Bhopal Chief Judicial Magistrate’s judgment in the case of Bhopal Gas Tragedy, world’s worst industrial disaster, described it as the Second Judicial Disaster in the matter of the Union Carbide genocide of December 1984. This judgment excluded the CEO of Union Carbide Corp. Warren Anderson from the list of guilty and allowed the rest of the guilty (including Keshub Mahindra, the then CEO of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. which controlled the Indian subsidiary of Union Carbide Corporation to go scot free of the charges of genocide (murder) in Bhopal more than 25 years ago.
Aboobacker, president of SDPI, in a strong-worded statement said that the verdict in the Bhopal Gas Tragedy case was a mockery of justice. The judgment was on the expected lines as the hands of the CJM were tied by the charges framed under Section 304A of Indian Penal Code, (IPC), and not under Section 304-II of IPC which had been struck down by the Supreme Court of India in 1996.
He questioned the role played by the local protectors of the company viz- our politicians and bureaucrats? Why were the authorities responsible for enforcing safety regulations not touched? Was the state not a party to the accident? Officers from the state and Central Governments regularly visited the plant and issued safety certificates duly collecting the booty. This incident is yet another disturbing reminder that the poor don't matter in India.
Meanwhile, the First Judicial Disaster took place on February 14-15, 1989 when the Supreme Court of India put its stamp of approval on the shameless agreement reached between Union Carbide, on the one hand, and the Union of India and the Madhya Pradesh Government, on the other. The Supreme Court, through its 1989 judgment, freed Union Carbide of all Civil Liabilities (and negated both compensatory and punitive damages) and thus rolled red carpet for the neo-liberal capital to begin its plunder and loot in India from 1991 onwards.
Aboobacker said the government should learn proper lessons the from Bhopal gas tragedy. He demanded the civil nuclear liability Bill, which fixes the maximum amount of liability in case of a nuclear accident at Rs. 500 crore, to be paid by the operator of the nuclear plant, should be reviewed forthwith in the light of the Bhopal gas Tragedy.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments: