May 3 fixed for last hearing in Bhopal Gas tragedy case

Bhopal, April 28 (ANI): The Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court here on Wednesday fixed May 3 as the last date for hearing in the Bhopal Gas tragedy case.

Non Governmental Organisations, representing the Bhopal Gas tragedy victims, however, have once again blamed the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) of deliberately trying to delay the case and putting a weak argument from the victims' side.

Abdul Jabbar, representative of a NGO, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan (BGPMUS), accused the government of delaying judgment in the case to please foreign companies.

"It's very clear that there is an unsigned directive given by the Indian government, to delay the verdict. And they want to send a signal to foreign companies, that they can come here and do whatever they want and they won't be held responsible for anything. They want to make Union Carbide an example for this. The people of India and of Bhopal will never forgive them," said Abdul Jabbar, representative of a NGO, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan (BGPMUS), working for the Bhopal gas tragedy survivors.

The victims have also demanded that the accused should be prosecuted under 304 of IPC, part-II, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and not under the current 304 A, causing death by negligence.

"We want the case to be changed to 304. The CJM (Chief Judicial Magistrate) court dismissed it day before, but we will challenge the order of CJM (Chief Judicial Magistrate) court in a week's time. We say that all the evidences and facts point out that this case can come under 304," said Jabbar.

The CBI, in its arguments earlier had said that the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) did not adhere to safety and maintenance norms.

The defence counsel, meanwhile, did not take responsibility for the gas leak from the Union Carbide factory and restated that the accused were not to be blamed for the defective design of the factory.

The Bhopal Gas Tragedy is one of the worst industrial disasters ever witnessed.

The gas leak killed and maimed thousands of persons in Bhopal in December, 1984.

The Bhopal Gas disaster was an industrial catastrophe that took place at a pesticide plant owned and operated by Union Carbide (UCIL) in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.

Around midnight on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, the plant released methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and other toxins, resulting in the exposure of over 500,000 people. (ANI)