Screaming headlines like 'Bhopal's Second Disaster' or 'Judgment a Mockery of Justice' are indicative of the sense of outrage at the punishment of two years imprisonment and a token fine imposed on Kesub Mahindra and six officers of Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL). Mr. Mahindra headed Union Carbide at the time of the gas leak on the night of 2 December 1984 which killed thousands, maimed lakhs, and left the people of Bhopal with ill health. He is presently Chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra, India's largest SUV maker.
The feat of conviction achieved after a marathon 26 years from the 1984 gas leak incident has itself evoked comments of 'Justice delayed is justice denied' and 'Justice Buried'. However, the path which led to this travesty of justice for the victims and survivors was a script well in advance. Suffice it to say that the punishment of two years imprisonment awarded by the Chief Judicial Magistrate is the maximum sentence imposable under Section 304 A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for 'death by rash and negligent act', the offence for which the accused have been convicted. And thereby hangs a tale that needs re-telling, and also warrants a look at the players involved.
The tremendous public outrage and protest soon after the gas leak forced a reluctant government to lodge a First Information Report and initiate criminal proceedings. The prelude to the farce of a well-known individual such as Warren Anderson, head of a multi-national corporation, being declared a 'proclaimed absconder' and 'untraceable' took place immediately after the tragedy. The arrest of Anderson, then Chairman of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), on 7 December 1984 meant only that he was comfortably ensconced in the company guesthouse and released on a bond of INR 25,000 the same day. Even though charged with the serious offence of 'culpable homicide', punishable with life or ten years imprisonment, the conditions of remaining in the city and depositing the passport in court, routinely imposed while granting bail, were not sought by the prosecution in a case where the likelihood of the accused fleeing the jurisdiction of the court were high. In fact, Mr Anderson, cosseted and well protected from the media glare by the State Government, was flown to New Delhi in an official aircraft.
Cheap deaths, cheaper lives
The Government of India (GOI) enacted the Bhopal Gas Disaster (Processing of Claims) Act in 1985, arrogating to itself the exclusive rights to represent and act on behalf of the survivors/victims of the Gas Leak tragedy. In 1989 the Supreme Court of India – ostensibly in view of 'the enormity of human suffering occasioned by the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster and the pressing urgency to provide immediate and substantial relief to victims of the disaster' – endorsed a settlement between UCC and GOI under which Union Carbide was to pay USD 470 million in settlement of all present and future claims. The victim-survivors underwent years of agony and suffering as claims tribunals set up by the Government processed claims and awarded paltry sums as compensation. The bulk of the money remained intact, and in 2004, the Supreme Court ordered it to be distributed among victim-survivors, resulting in payment of few hundred dollars each to over five lakh claimants.