The government is looking at the option of approaching the Supreme Court with a curative petition against the dilution of charges in the Bhopal gas leak case. The move is understood to have found wide support in the group of ministers set up to re-examine the tragedy and its aftermath and suggest remedial measures in the light of the country-wide outrage following the June 7 judgment of the Bhopal trial court sentencing all the accused to just two years in prison.
The GoM examined the legal options and reached some tentative conclusions. “We discussed all pending legal issues and legal options available to the government after the judgment of the trial court. We heard all concerned and reached some tentative conclusions,” Union home minister P. Chidambaram, who heads the reconstituted GoM, said. The GoM, in the second part of its meeting on Saturday evening, discussed the way the Bhopal Memorial Trust Hospital, set up after the tragedy, should function. “We have heard everyone concerned and we will form some conclusions about how the Bhopal Memorial Hospital should be run in the future,” Mr Chidambaram said, adding that the ministers also deliberated on how epidemiological works should be carried out in future, and under what aegis and auspices should this work continue. The government is also likely to move the Supreme Court to take over the Bhopal Memorial Trust Hospital. “We have discussed all issues relating to health ... relating to the Bhopal Memorial Trust Hospital, the satellite hospitals, the epidemiological surveys done by ICMR, the work now being done by the rehabilitation centre — all these issues were discussed,” the minister said. The GoM also discussed healthcare needs, including drinking water. A research centre is expected to be set up to study the effects of the disaster.
The GoM, which will meet again on Sunday, is expected to deliberate on remediation measures. Among other issues, the GoM is considering an increase in compensation for those affected by the 1984 disaster. The Planning Commission has already approved a package of Rs 982 crores for the victims.