Row over Dow's alleged payments to Indian officials

WASHINGTON: US-based company Dow Chemicals has got embroiled in a controversy following allegations that payments were made to Indian government officials to enable its operations in the country between 1996 and 2001.

In the wake of the allegations by regulator US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dow has agreed to pay an amount of $325,000 as civil penalty to settle the matter without admitting or denying the charges.

In Bhopal, the 1984 gas leak survivors demanded filing of a police case against the company and separate investigations by law enforcement authorities and Economic Offences Wing.

"The payments were made without the authorisation or knowledge of Dow or Dow AgroSciences employees in the US. Once Dow discovered the matter, the company conducted a thorough investigation and voluntarily notified the SEC of its findings," a press statement on Dow website said adding its Code of Business Conduct explicitly prohibited making improper payments to third parties.

"We will pursue every violation that we uncover and respond with appropriate discipline," the Dow AgroSciences President and CEO Jerome Peribere was quoted as saying in the press statement.

Settlement has been reached with the SEC, resolving issues arising from allegations of payments to government officials in India by DE-NOCIL Crop Protection Ltd, a third-tier joint venture subsidiary of Dow AgroSciences, itself a second-tier wholly-owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company, the statement said.