Did the Indian government guarantee Dow Chemicals, the parent company of Union Carbide, that it will not be held liable for the Bhopal gas tragedy?
An RTI response has raised fresh questions over the government’s position in the case, as it brought to light a letter written in 2006 by Dow Chemicals CEO Andrew L
iveris to the then Indian ambassador to the US Ronen Sen, claiming that the Indian government had said that his company is not liable for the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984.
If Liveris is to be believed, the assurance from the Indian government came even when an Indian court was still deliberating on the issue.
A copy of Liveris’ letter dated November 8, 2006, was obtained by US-based Somu Kumar of the International Campaign for Justice for Bhopal under the Right to Information Act from the Indian embassy in Washington.
A copy of the letter and other documents obtained by Mr Kumar from the Indian embassy were circulated among the Indian media here. “Given the statements made by government of India representatives in front of all meeting attendees that DOW is not responsible for Bhopal and will not be pursued by the GoI, it will be important to follow through to ensure concrete, sustained actions are taken that are consistent with these statements,” Liveris said in his letter to Mr Sen. —PTI