Kalam terms Bhopal verdict anguishing

Indore, June 11 (ANI): Former Indian President Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam has termed the verdict on the Bhopal gas tragedy as anguishing and said the output of law and judiciary was not proportionate to the sufferings of the people.

Participating in a media interaction programme at the Indore Press Club, Kalam said: " I personally feel that the verdict which came after around 26 years of Bhopal gas tragedy is anguishing."

Kalam said the law and judiciary should treat all citizens as equal and they should not differentiate between them whether they are poor or rich.

Replying to a question, Kalam said though he cannot comment on court verdicts, but for Bhopal he has strong personal feeling.

"About the verdict in Bhopal gas tragedy, I have a strong personal feeling that the output of law and judiciary was not proportionate to the sufferings of the people," Kalam said.

Over 25 years after the world's worst industrial disaster that killed over 15,000 people, a local court on June 7 convicted former Union Carbide India Chairman Keshub Mahindra and seven others in the Bhopal Gas tragedy case and awarded them a maximum of two years imprisonment.

However, there was no word about Warren Anderson, the then Chairman of Union Carbide Corporation of USA, in the judgement delivered by CJM Mohan P Tiwari, 23 years after the trial commenced. (ANI)