In a setback to 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy victims, a United States court has held that neither Union Carbide nor its former chairman Warren Anderson were liable for environmental remediation or pollution-related claims at the firm’s former chemical plant in Bhopal.
In his written opinion, US district judge John Keena concluded that even when viewing the evidence in the most favourable light for the plaintiffs, UCC is not directly liable, nor liable as an agent of UCIL, nor liable under a veil-piercing analysis.
Citing a 1998 court verdict in a case involving KFC, the court said that legally the mere assertion that a corporate parent is or was involved in the decision-making process of its subsidiary, or that it controlled the legitimate policies of its subsidiary, will not shift liabilities among distinct corporate entities.
“Moreover, there is no evidence to suggest that UCC’s approval power extended beyond the strategic plan to other areas of UCIL’s operations,” the court said.
The court observed that after the 1984 catastrophic gas leak claimed thousands of lives, the government of India closed the Bhopal plant.
“As discussed in connection with the direct liability, the expanded summary judgement record demonstrates that UCC played a minimal role, if any, with respect to the decision to back-integrate the Bhopal plant, the design of the plant’s waste disposal system, the choice and development of process technology used at the plant, and the burial of waste in a landfill.
“There is no need to pierce the corporate veil to prevent fraud or injustice because, even if there were evidence that UCC dominated UCIL, there is no allegation or evidence that UCC did so to commit a fraud or wrong that harmed Plaintiffs,” it said.
Over 3,000 people are believed to have died in the December of 1984 in Bhopal due to the immediate after effects of the tragedy.