Supreme Court Today (July 24) asked Madhya Pradesh High Court to fairly hear Bhopal gas tragedy survivors’ claim that they were wrongly classified and under-compensated. Victims want proper justice and compensation for their long-term suffering.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court of India told survivors of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy that they can approach the Madhya Pradesh High Court with their complaint.
The survivors, along with their support organisations, said that many people who have serious and long-lasting health problems from the gas leak were wrongly put into categories like ‘temporary disablement’ and ‘minor injury’.
Because of this wrong classification, they got very low compensation for their suffering and medical treatment.
The Supreme Court Bench, which included Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai and Justice Vinod Chandran, told the High Court to decide the matter on its own merit.
The apex court made it clear that it has not given any decision on the actual facts of the case, and only allowed the victims to raise the issue in the proper forum.
Many well-known lawyers appeared for the victims’ groups. Senior advocates Raju Ramachandran, Karuna Nundy, and advocate Prasanna S. represented the organisations, including the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha.
These legal representatives asked the Supreme Court to direct the Central Government to take action to help the misclassified victims. They requested the court to order the government to find out which victims were wrongly categorized and to put them in the right compensation category under the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster (Processing of Claims) Act, 1985, so they can finally get fair money for their medical care and pain.
The Central Government itself had called the Bhopal gas tragedy “the world’s largest industrial disaster”. In the past, both the Government of India and the Supreme Court had also accepted that the gas leak, which happened during the night of December 2–3, 1984, was “horrific” in every sense, especially because of the loss of many innocent lives.
The survivors’ petition said:
“A long history of litigation attempting to recover damages from the US-headquartered Union Carbide Corporation (now part of Dow Chemicals Corporation) ended with the dismissal by the Supreme Court of the curative petitions in July 2023 wherein it was made clear that any shortfall in compensation to be paid to the victims were a responsibility of the Union government.”
The victims’ organisations said they have strong data and evidence showing that many survivors who got cancer or kidney failure due to the toxic Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) gas were still being treated as ‘minor/temporary injury’ cases by the system.
They clearly told the court:
“All these cases ought to have been added as a permanent disability category.”
CASE TITLE:
BHOPAL GAS PEEDIT MAHILA PURUSH SANGARSH MORCHA AND ORS. Versus UNION OF INDIA AND ANR
Would You Like Assistance In Drafting A Legal Notice Or Complaint?
CLICK HERE
Click Here to Read Our Reports on CJI BR Gavai
Click Here to Read Our Reports on Bhopal Gas Tragedy
FOLLOW US ON YOUTUBE FOR MORE LEGAL UPDATES
