Bhopal gas tragedy: All eight accused found guilty

Bhopal, June 7 (ANI): Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Mohan P Tiwari on Monday convicted all eight accused on the grounds of death due to negligence under Section 304 (a) for the Bhopal Gas tragedy, one of India's most horrific of industrial disasters.

The maximum punishment under this provision is two years. The quantum of sentence's yet to be pronounced.

The eight accused are Keshub Mahendra, Vijay Gokhle, Kishore Kamdar, J Mukund, S P Choudhary, K V Shetty and S I Qureshi

Out of the nine accused tried for the offences, R B Roy Choudhary, then former Assistant Works Manager Union Carbide India Ltd (UCIL), Mumbai, died during the trial.

The FIR in the tragedy was filed on December 3, 1984 and the case was transferred to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on December 6, 1984. The CBI filed the charge sheet after investigation on December 1, 1987.

In the early hours of December 3, 1984, around 40 metric tonnes of toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked into the atmosphere and was carried by wind to surrounding slums.

The government says around 3,500 died in the disaster. Rights activists, however, claim that 25,000 people have died so far. (ANI)