Centre seeks Rs5,786-crore compensation from UCC

In a late but welcome move, the Centre has asked the Supreme Court (SC) to revisit its 1989 judgment that allowed Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) to escape by paying a paltry Rs715 crore as one-time compensation to at least 5,200 people killed and 50,000 injured in the Bhopal gas tragedy 26 years ago.

The government says tax payers shouldn’t be penalised for the offence committed by pesticide manufacturer UCC, which is now owned by Dow Chemical Company.

A curative petition filed by the government on Friday seeks Rs5,786 crore from UCC/Dow.

The plea relies on the dissenting judgment by then SC judge AM Ahmadi, who had said people of India can’t be burdened with the liability of the negligent company.

Ahmadi had dissented with the majority verdict that if the compensation amount fell short, the Union government would make good being “parents” of the victims.

It’s interesting to note that the government and CBI had questioned the judgment delivered by Ahmadi in 1996 mellowing down the criminal charge against UCC.

A government lawyer said the renewed compensation claim was based on the estimate of increasing compensation liability due to an increase in the number of deaths to almost 15,000. Moreover, at least Rs315 crore is needed for restoration of environment in Bhopal.

The government says the SC had said in 1989 that the UCC settlement was based on certain “assumptions of truth” and if the said assumptions were unrelated to “realities”, the “element of justness” of the settlement would seriously be impaired and given liberty to approach the court.