The Group of Ministers on Bhopal headed by home minister P. Chidambaram, which submitted its report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday, has claimed that Dow Chemicals, which bought Union Carbide in 2001, cannot be made liable for “criminal” offences related to the 1984 gas tragedy.
It said, however, that a curative petition should be filed in the Supreme Court seeking restoration of stringent charges against the accused. It also recommended a Central package of Rs 1,300 crores for victims: enhancing compensation for the kin of the dead to Rs 10 lakhs and for the permanently disabled to Rs 5 lakhs. The Union Cabinet will meet specially on Friday to consider the matter.
The GoM also advised the government to pursue the “civil liability” of Dow Chemicals by following up a case before the Jabalpur bench of the Madhya Pradesh high court.
Union surface transport minister Kamal Nath, a GoM member, said it also decided to make a fresh attempt to seek extradition of 89-year-old Warren Anderson, who now lives outside New York, on the basis of “fresh material” available.
The GoM said the onus of cleaning up the disaster site in Bhopal rested on the state government, for which the Centre would provide financial and technical support.