Law and justice minister M. Veerappa Moily on Saturday said it was the Supreme Court that converted the Bhopal gas tragedy case into a case that attracted minor punishment though the original charges filed against the accused entailed a maximum of 10 years in jail. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) wanted the tragedy to be treated as an offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder which entails a jail term which can extend up to 10 years and also a fine, he told reporters here. However the Supreme Court directed that the case be treated as causing death by rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide, Mr Moily said. Under this law, the maximum punishment is for up to two years in jail or a fine or both. “Unfortunately, the judiciary did it,” Mr Moily said. The minister said there was need for laws to fix responsibility for disasters like the Bhopal gas tragedy. The Central government would ensure that disasters were treated as disasters only, he said.
“Our courts are very conservative. Hence we are working on new set of laws to deal with such disasters,” Mr Moily said. On bringing the then Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson to justice, he said the case against him has not been closed. “Everyone is equal in the eyes of law and age did not matter,” Mr Moily said when asked about Anderson’s wife’s comment that her husband was too old to travel. Anderson, now 89, was released shortly after his arrest for the tragedy in in December 1984.
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Don’t want any spat: Ahmadi
Age Correspondent
NEW DELHI
Facing flak for what is being dubbed a conflict of interest in connection with the Bhopal gas tragedy, former Chief Justice of India A.M. Ahmadi now says that he does not want to get into a spat with anyone.
Justice Ahmadi has been in the firing line in recent days for diluting the charges against the accused in the Bhopal gas tragedy. In 1996, the then Chief Justice, as part of an SC bench, had dropped charges against Mr Warren Anderson and other accused in the Bhopal gas tragedy under Section 304-II of the IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder).
At the same time, there are accusations of conflict of interest as Justice Ahmadi is the chairman of the Bhopal Memorial Hospital which came up with money given by Union Carbide. On his part, the former CJ has already said that he is willing to step down from the post. The former CJ said, “I do not want to go into the blame-game. I do not want to go into any type of spat with anyone.” This response came following Union law minister M. Veerappa Moily’s observation that while the CBI had filed a charge under Section 304 (II) of the IPC, the SC had converted it to a section which provides for a punishment of just two years.
The former CJ also said that a “hue and cry is happening (sic) because people want to raise the issue”. On the 1996 verdict, the former CJ said that he could not say anything about it.