Indian Court Convicts Eight In Bhopal Gas Disaster

[Elmore Furth]

Source: Reuters

BHOPAL, India (Reuters) - An Indian court on Monday found eight people guilty of negligence in failing to prevent one of the world's worst industrial accidents that killed thousands of people in 1984.

A Union Carbide plant in the central city of Bhopal accidentally released toxic gases into the air and the government says around 3,500 people died as a result. Activists say 25,000 died in the immediate aftermath and the years that followed.

Sentencing is to be announced at a later date.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/06/07/world/international-us-india-bhopal-verdict.html?ref=world

---

The executives could face a jail term of up to two years and could also be required to pay a fine, prosecutors said during the trial.

Indian industrialist Keshub Mahindra, then head of Union Carbide India Limited, and seven others have been charged with causing death by negligence.

Last year, the trial court also issued a warrant of arrest for Warren Anderson, the former chairman of the US-based Union Carbide Corporation. He has been declared an "absconder" -- or a fugitive -- from the indictment, prosecuting attorney C. Sahay said.

Union Carbide, now a subsidiary of Dow Chemical Co., paid a $470 million settlement to India in 1989. The company blamed the disaster on an act of sabotage and has said it no longer has any liability.


http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/06/07/india.bhopal.verdict/?hpt=Sbin

[InfiniteThoughts]

1. hey .. you unfettered free market supporters ... took 26 years & counting for justice

Wanted to highlight this case as Exhibit #1850301 as to why unfettered free markets (as clamored by repubs) isn't in the best interest of society. It took 26 years for a court to pronounce judgement and i am sure that the corps will spend another 15 years contesting the suit in higher courts ...

sad way for humanity to go ...

[InfiniteThoughts]

2. CORP WELFAR(C)E !!!

Widow pension of the rate of Rs 200/per month (later Rs 750) was provided.

That's what UCC has been giving .... Rs 750 is $15/month. The current median per capita income in India is Rs. 3750/month ($75/month). Hence the widow pension for losing their loved ones and probably the only daily meal earner in the family is one-fifth of that. Thanks to UC & corrupt indian officials, quite a few are continuing to experience abject poverty while the rich roll in wealth ...

[TheMadMonk]

11. Which isn't much different to the ratio between govt. pensions/benefits...

...and median income in Australia.

I'm in no way saying that these widows shouldn't get more than that. Simply observing that as far as pensions go, it's not that far off the mark.

And of course various individuals are as always, rolling in their filthy lucre, and others are standing there with hands twitching behind their backs. Nothing is new under the sun.

Once upon a time, bribery was a good(ish) thing, fifty little men would each pay a small bribe (which collectively would amount to a tidy sum) to be shielded from government/lordly scrutiny. Unfortunately this system breaks down rather badly when corporations discover that by upping the bribe from "tidy" to "substantial" they can secure a certain degree of insulation from both lordly and citizen oversight.

[wordpix]

13. $200 r/mo? Geesh, that's enough for a day's meal for the family

How wonderful of UC to be so generous! :sarcasm:

[tclambert]

3. 26 years! But they still haven't jailed any Americans.

When it comes to criminals, we're still the best.

[bahrbearian]

4. We're #1

USA! USA!

[Nihil]

9. Too much protection ...

> Last year, the trial court also issued a warrant of arrest for Warren Anderson,
> the former chairman of the US-based Union Carbide Corporation. He has been
> declared an "absconder" -- or a fugitive -- from the indictment

Funny how it works: if a US court wanted someone who was responsible for that
many deaths, they'd be quite happy to invade but when it comes to handing over
their own criminals, suddenly the word "justice" is forgotten ...

[wordpix]

15. we're the best at lawyering up---look at what we have to look forward to with BP/Gulf Coast

[Blue_Tires]

5. holy damn...

even the most ardent randian free market humper might say the judgment was too light...

[Robbien]

6. Court Gives First Jail Terms for 1984 Bhopal Disaster

Source: Business Week

June 7 (Bloomberg) -- An Indian court sentenced seven former senior employees of Union Carbide Corp.’s local unit to two years each in jail, after the first ever convictions related to the deadly 1984 leak of toxic gas in Bhopal.

. . .

An explosion at the Union Carbide pesticide plant on Dec. 3, 1984, released methyl isocyanate gas into the streets of Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. Union Carbide estimated that 3,800 people were killed by the leak. Amnesty International, a human rights group, commissioned a study that showed 7,000 perished within days, and that another 15,000 later died from exposure to the gas.

“After 26 years, if a court finds someone guilty then you cannot call it justice,” Rachna Dhingra of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action, said in a phone interview. “The maximum punishment they got is two years in jail, after killing thousands of people, maiming tens of thousands and poisoning the water.”

Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-07/court-gives-first-jail-terms-for-1984-bhopal-disaster-update1-.html

---

They were convicted of negligence and not homicide for:

The tragedy occurred when 40 tonnes of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) leaked from the pesticide facilities of the Union Carbide factory. Most who died did not even know what hit them as they suffocated to death on their beds. Others ran out on to the streets, gasping and fighting for breath.

-----

The convicted are now out on bail awaiting appeal.

-----

In related news: Indian parliament weighs a nuclear liability bill that would place a cap on compensation in case of a nuclear accident. US companies are reluctant to build nuclear power stations in India without legislation protecting them from large compensation claims.

The going rate for killing an Indian was $500 per death in the Bhopal Disaster. No payment was made for the physical injury of the other 250,000 Indians who were harmed not killed by the event.

And companies want more protection?

[mbperrin]

7. The dead and injured are lucky they weren't charged with stealing

MIC, and sent to jail or their families fined.

The model for all this? Cheney shoots a guy in the face, and the guy has to apologize to Cheney.












Only wish I were kidding in any way.

[valerief]

8. Our courts would have given them bailout money. nt

[smirkymonkey]

12. And Bonuses....

26 years too late and they get two lousy years which will probably never be served. Disgusting.

[marianneliz]

16. bhopal and csr

This was a really terrible disaster to begin with, for the people of Bhopal as well as the environment. They have had to live with the pain and suffering for so many years and still no justice! And the Warren guy, why not get him extradited? As for CSR, it is a disgrace for Dow Chemical. When is the mess all going to be cleaned up? This article points to the fall of CSR for Dow in the Bhopal disaster: http://news.suite101.com/article.cfm/lax-prison-terms-for-bhopal-disaster-convicts-points-to-poor-csr-a246176

[Javaman]

17. The people that survived still live in horrible conditions with life long effects

from the release and have yet to see a single penny in compensation.

[kirby]

10. Just imagine...

Just imagine what the sentence would have been if they had criticised Israel?

[wordpix]

14. oh fricking give it a rest, that is not funny or clever in the least