The legal wrangle to fix criminal liability for the Union Carbide gas disaster took a new turn on Friday with a fresh petition being filed in the district court here against the then district collector and superintendent of police on the charge that they had helped former Union Carbide Corporation chief Warren Anderson in leaving Bhopal by a state government aircraft within hours of his arrest on December 7, 1984.
The petition was filed against the then district collector, Moti Singh, and SP Swaraj Puri by local advocate Parvez Alam. It has been pointed out through this petition that bail could not have been granted to Mr Anderson as he had been arrested under sections that were non-bailable.
[Three days after the Bhopal gas tragedy, the police here had released Warren Anderson and two others on bail by “deleting” in the complaint a stringent charge under the IPC against them, PTI quoted trial court sources as saying on Friday. The sources said that police had no right to delete such a charge and in doing so they had exceeded their brief. “If the charge had not been deleted, Anderson may not have been able to leave India,” they said.]
Pressure has also started mounting on former chief minister Arjun Singh as Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan has written to him asking him to explain his role in the events leading to Mr Anderson’s release on bail and his prompt exit from Bhopal on a state plane. The CM has also asked him to clarify whether he was under pressure from “above” to provide “safe passage” to the former UCC chief. Mr Chouhan has said in his letter that Mr Arjun Singh owes an explanation to the people of India.
On being contacted, former Bhopal district and sessions judge Renu Sharma said that under Section 221 of the CrPC, a person who is bound to apprehend an accused but lets him off or lets him escape can be convicted for the offence depending on the severity of the offence for which the accused was apprehended. Under an offence committed under IPC Section 304-II, when the punishment is 10 years for the accused, if a person helps the accused escape, he can be punished with three years in jail and a fine. In the Bhopal gas disaster case, the district administration has admitted that Mr Anderson, the prime accused, was arrested.
Ms Sharma said it was an illegal act to save an accused and help him escape from the country. Questions arise about whether the court went to the Union Carbide guest house on December 7, 1984 to grant bail to Mr Anderson; who was the presiding officer in the matter of bail; whether bail was given or was Mr Anderson released on a personal bond? If he was released on a personal bond, the fact is that this was not a matter in which the personal bond route can be used.
[A perusal of court documents shows that the man in charge of the Hanuman Ganj police station, Surender Singh, had initially arrested Anderson, then UCIL chairman Keshub Mahindra and senior company official Vijay Prakash Gokhale at 10.10 am on December 7, 1984 in the presence of one Rakesh Kumar under various sections of the IPC, including 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), PTI reports. They were also charged under Sections 304 A (causing death by negligence), 278 (making atmosphere noxious to health), 284 (negligent conduct with respect to poisonous substance), 426 (mischief) and 429 (mischief by killing or maiming cattle, other animals). Later, the police released the three, “deleting” the charge against them under Section 304, they said.]