Government had sought new law in 2009
It was in September 2009 that Union law minister M. Veerappa Moily had asked the Law Commission of India to draft new legislation to prevent man-made tragedies such as the Bhopal gas disaster. Mr Moily’s directions to the Law Commission came after the Association of the Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in July 2009 demanding stringent legislation to deal with man-made disasters.
Mr Moily had written to AVUT, a copy of which is with this newspaper, saying: “I have examined the matter and asked the Law Commission of India to come out with a new legislation to prevent such man-made tragedies.” In fact, the law ministry had shot off an urgent letter, dated September 4, 2009, to the Law Commission to take up the matter on ‘’priority’’ basis.
In its letter to the member secretary of the Law Commission last September, the law ministry wrote, “The law minister has desired that the matter be referred to the Law Commission of India to be taken up on priority.”
Ms Neelam Krishnamoorthy, president of AVUT, while stating that both Mrs Gandhi and Mr Moily had addressed the issue promptly, blamed the Law Commission for sitting on the matter. Ms Krishnamoorthy said there has been no response from the Law Commission. The law ministry had also asked the Law Commission to examine the demand for setting up a ‘’National Public Safety Commission’’ with an objective to prevent man-made tragedy, on the line of such bodies existing in Canada, UK, Japan and South Korea. The AVUT had cited the example of the 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy, and 1995 Dabwali Fire Tragedy.
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