Parties unite in voicing dissatisfaction on Bhopal verdict

With the Bhopal gas tragedy verdict coming 26 years after the industrial disaster, the political class today unitedly expressed dissatisfaction over it, dubbing it as a case of "too little, too late".

"This is one such case where justice is delayed and practically denied. I would like to say justice is buried," Union law minister and Congress MP Veerappa Moily said adding, that this should not be repeated.

AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said, "In this case, justice should have been done much earlier, criticism of delayed justice in this case is justified."

Terming the verdict as "painful", BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the investigative agencies should immediately commence appellate proceedings against the court order which gave those convicted only two years imprisonment.

"It's painful. After 25 years of hearing, the accused have got only two years of imprisonment. The CBI should go into appeal immediately against the verdict," he said.

CPI found the verdict as "too little, too late" and said the prime minister should take responsibility for the "failure" of the CBI to bring to justice the foreigners accused in the case.

"Only the Indian accused have been convicted, not the main accused who happen to be Americans. The verdict has taken
a very long time to come. The charges have been diluted. The
accused have been let off with a two-year sentence each and
freed on bail," CPI national secretary D Raja said adding "It
is too little and too late".

The CPI leader said prime minister Manmohan Singh should
take responsibility for the "failure and incompetence" of CBI,
which could not bring the prime accused to justice.

"It is a corporate crime and the accused should have got exemplary punishment, but what has happened is like a relief
for the accused in a way," he said adding, it has been treated
like a "road accident" case.