The firms had told the top court that the Indian government never suggested at the time of settlement that it was inadequate. (File photo. Reuters)
A five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul will pronounce the verdict.
The Supreme Court today delivered its verdict on the Centre’s plea seeking an additional Rs 7,844 crore from the successor firms of Union Carbide Corporation to pay more compensation to the victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy that killed over 3,000 people and caused environmental damage.
A five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul will pronounce the verdict. A bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Abhay S Oka, Justice Vikram Nath and Justice JK Maheshwar had also reserved its verdict on the Centre’s curative petition on January 12.
On January 12, the successor firms of the UCC told the apex court that the depreciation of the rupee since 1989, when an agreement was reached between the company and the Centre, could no longer be the basis for seeking “top-up” of compensation . For the victims of Bhopal gas tragedy.
The firms had told the top court that the Indian government never suggested at the time of settlement that it was inadequate.
“There are series and series of affidavits, starting from 1995 and ending till 2011, where the Union of India has opposed every single attempt to suggest that the Agreement (of 1989) is inadequate. Affidavits were filed on counterclaims,” submitted senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the UCC successor firms. Now, the real contention before the court is that the settlement has become inadequate as the rupee has depreciated, he argued. .
The apex court, during the hearing, had told the Center that it cannot act like a “knight in shining armour” and decide the curative petition seeking additional funds from the UCC in the form of a civil suit, and the government asked to “dip into his pocket”. “To provide enhanced compensation.
The Center wants another Rs 7,844 crore from the UCC’s successor firms, which is over the USD 470 million (Rs 715 crore) it received from the US company as part of the settlement in 1989.
A curative petition is the last resort for a litigant after an adverse judgment has been given and its petition for review has been dismissed. The Center did not file a review petition to quash the agreement which it now wants to extend.
The Center has been insisting that the enormity of the actual damage caused to human life and the environment could not be properly assessed at the time of the settlement in 1989.
The apex court had on January 10 questioned the Center on a curative petition seeking additional funds from UCC and said the government cannot reopen the agreement with the company after more than 30 years.
UCC, now owned by Dow Chemicals, paid a compensation of USD 470 million (Rs 715 crore at the time of settlement in 1989) following the leakage of toxic methyl isocyanate gas from the Union Carbide factory on the intervening night of 2 and 3 December. In 1984, over 3,000 people were killed and 1.02 lakh more were affected.
The survivors of the tragedy have been fighting for a long time for adequate compensation and proper medical treatment for the ailments caused by the toxic gas leak.
The Center had filed a curative petition in the apex court in December 2010 to enhance the compensation. On 7 June 2010, a Bhopal court sentenced seven executives of Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) to two years imprisonment.
Warren Anderson, then president of the UCC, was the main accused in the case, but did not appear for the trial.
On February 1, 1992, the Bhopal CJM Court declared him a fugitive. The Bhopal court had issued non-bailable warrants twice in 1992 and 2009 before Anderson’s death in September 2014.
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