Court stops sale of book on Bhopal gas tragedy

Five Past Midnight in Bhopal
Dominique Lapierre & Javier Moro
Full Circle

Almost eight years after it was published, a Jabalpur court has issued an injunction against the sale of the book, Five Past Midnight In Bhopal, published in 2001 by Dominic Lapierre and Javier Moro. The injunction followed a defamation case filed against the authors by former Madhya Pradesh DGP Swaraj Puri, who was the police commissioner of Bhopal on the night of December 3, when the tragic gas leak happened, killing 5,000 people in a matter of 72 hours.

Lapierre, who has authored with Michael Collins acclaimed bestsellers such as Freedom At Midnight, O Jerusalem and Is Paris Burning? — books that revealed dark details about historic moments — is no stranger to controversy. However, this is the first time he has run into a legal thicket. In a joint statement, the authors said, “We are surprised, considering that all portions objected to by Mr Swaraj Puri have been substantiated and more by Mr Moti Singh (who was the collector in Bhopal at that time and to whom Mr Puri was reporting to on a day-to day basis), in a book written by him on the Bhopal Tragedy.” Moti Singh’s book, titled Unfolding The Betrayal Of Bhopal Gas Tragedy, was released in 2008.

In their book Five Past Midnight In Bhopal, Lapierre and co-author Javier Moro talk of the mayhem that reigned in the city on the night of the gas leak and how the then police commissioner Swaraj Puri was at his wits’ end (see excerpt). Offended, Puri fired off a notice to the authors in 2002. Puri’s lawyer, Rajesh Pancholi attributed the delay in the legal proceedings to the fact that the authors could not be reached easily as they were French and lived abroad. So a notice was sent through email, demanding a sum of $10 million as compensation for the damage to Puri’s reputation, with the caveat that if there was no response, it would be doubled to $20 million, added Pancholi. 

Pradeep Bakshi, lawyer and spokesperson for Full Circle, the publisher of Lapierre and Moro’s work, maintained that there was nothing defamatory in the book. Says Bakshi, “The whole issue is about money. Puri had earlier demanded $10 million and increased it later to $20 million plus legal fees. We will approach the appropriate court to seek relief in the case.”

Pancholi, however, insists that money isn’t the main motive behind the case. “In any such notice, it is imperative to mention a specific amount, so we mentioned a figure. Right now, what Puri wants is a public apology from the authors, more than money.”

But is there a positive side to this defamation case, after all? Does it help boost the sales of the book? Shekhar Malhotra of Full Circle denies that the controversy helped the book much. He admits that when it was published in 2001, the book did not make much of a splash because by then, the Bhopal gas tragedy had already receded from public memory. However, the case does have its harassment quotient. Malhotra says his lawyer Bakshi now has to go to Jabalpur to attend to the case.

Ironically enough, Moti Singh’s book on the gas tragedy is as damaging to Puri’s reputation, if not more, than Lapierre and Moro’s book. “But there was no case against him as it was written by a senior-most government officer who was privy to all actual facts and information,” says a Full Circle spokesman.

The offending passages
The commissioner found the police headquarters in total disarray: gas had infiltrated the old building, burning the eyes and lungs of many of the officers. Yet calls were coming in one after another without interruption in the command room on the second floor. One of them was from Arjun Singh, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. Rumour had it that he had left his official residence and taken refuge outside the city. Arjun Singh was calling in by radio to speak to the police chief Swaraj Puri.

“You must stop people leaving,” the head of the government intimated to him. “Put barricades across all the roads leading out of the city and make people go back to their homes.”

The Chief Minister, it seemed, had no idea of the chaos prevailing in Bhopal that night. In any case Puri had a good argument to put to him.

“Sir,” he answered, “how can I stop people leaving when my own policemen have disappeared along with the other fugitives?” (p316)

* * *

“Ah, the wonders of Indian hospitality! Police chief Swaraj Puri, who on the night of the tragedy had watched  his policemen flee, was at the foot of the plane in the company of the city’s Collector to welcome the visitors with warm handshakes. All that was missing was the traditional garland of flowers and a pretty hostess to give them a welcoming tilak. Anderson [Warren Anderson, the chairman of Union Carbide when the tragedy took place, and for whom a Bhopal court re-issued a warrant last week] and his companions took their seats in an official Ambassador brought to the foot of the steps. The car took off like the wind and left the airport via a service gate to avoid the pack of journalists waiting in the arrivals hall. The police chief and the collector followed in a second car. (p336)
—From Five Past Midnight In Bhopal by Lapierre and Moro (Full Circle)