The civil society organisations and NGOs working for the cause of the gas victims have played a major role in seeking justice for the victims of the worst industrial catastrophe.
Reacting to the decision in the Union Carbide criminal case, Abdul Jabbar of Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan said that the court was bound to try the accused under Section 304-A under a Supreme Court order. He said that his organisation had filed a petition in the top court to enlarge the scope of the criminal trial but it was rejected. Satinath Sarangi of Bhopal Group of Information and Action said that the punishment to the guilty is “too little and too late”.
Organisations working for the gas victims argue that the settlement of compensation at $470 million was done on the basis of the approximate number of victims whereas the actual count of those who have received compensation is five times more.
Abdul Jabbar, along with Prem Narayan Verma of Bhopal Gas Peedit Sangharsh Sahayog Samiti, and others have recently approached the top court with the rider whether or not the high court and the welfare commissioner were justified in rejecting their prayer in the interest of victims of Bhopal gas tragedy.