Synergy of worst of American and Indian cultures to blame for Bhopal gas tragedy: Judge

A synergy of the "very worst" of American and Indian cultures led to the Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984, a local court held, adding that Union Carbide Corporation cynically used a third world country to escape from the strict safety standards imposed at home.

Chief judicial magistrate Mohan P Tiwari, who convicted ex-Union Carbide (India) Limited (UCIL) chairman Keshub Mahindra and six others and sentenced them to two years' imprisonment, also slammed the local authorities in Bhopal for callous indifference and lack of prompt response after the gas leak.

The seven convicts secured bail shortly after the verdict was delivered on June 7.

The world's worst industrial disaster took place at the Carbide plant in Bhopal on the intervening night of December 2 and 3, 1984, and has so far claimed almost 25,000 lives.

Tiwari, who has now been promoted to the rank of additional district judge, said, "Safety procedures were minimal and neither the American owners nor the local management seemed to regard them as necessary."

He said that when the tragedy struck, there was no disaster plan that could be set into action.

"Prompt actions by the local authorities could have saved many, if not most of the victims," Tiwari said, adding that the immediate response was marked by callous indifference.

The then chief judicial magistrate said that Union Carbide should have had the self-realisation to exercise the greatest care and take precautions when dealing with such lethal chemicals.

"It was the burden of local government also to play its supervisory and regulatory role with the utmost sincerity," Tiwari said.

"However, both the UCIL and government utterly failed in doing so," he said.

Tiwari said that eight major factors contributed to the disaster, including casual but sustained erosion of good maintenance practices and declining quality of training to plant personnel.

He said he would like to suggest a separate law, like the Health and Safety at Work Etc Act, 1974, of the United Kingdom, to make further provisions for securing the health, safety, and welfare of people at work.

The law, Tiwari said, should also help in protecting others against risks to health or safety in connection with the activities of persons at work.

He said the act should help control the storage and use of dangerous substances and prevent their unlawful acquisition and possession. It should also control certain emissions into the atmosphere. He said there should be further provisions for medical advisory services.

Noting that the Bhopal gas disaster was the worst industrial tragedy in the world, the former chief judicial magistrate said if the accused were extended on probation, justice would not be done to the people who had suffered.

"The end came horribly, but at least the nightmare was brief," Tiwari said, adding that for those who survived the leak of the methyl isocyanate gas, the "release" will not come so quickly.

He said thousands of seriously affected survivors still suffer from extensive lung damage because of which they can no longer apply themselves physically.

"Women have peculiar gynaecological problems and are still giving birth to deformed children," he said.

Regarding Warren Anderson, who was the chairman of Union Carbide Corporation USA at the time, he said Anderson and UCC Kowloon Hong Kong are still absconding and therefore, "every part of this case [criminal file] is kept intact in safe custody till their appearance".

In the 95-page judgment, Tiwari said the evidence adduced by the prosecution was sufficient to prove beyond doubt that the accused persons were negligent. "Knowing all the things, they omitted to do what they were entrusted to do," he said.

"MIC is a highly dangerous and toxic poison. Even then storage of huge quantity in large tanks was undesirable. The capacity and actual production in the Sevin plant did not require such a huge quantity to be stored," he said.