By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
Bhopal: The five organisations working among the people poisoned by Union Carbide and the counsel of the petitioners have expressed disappointment over a US court judgment on the Union Carbide. In a major blow to victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, a US court ruled that the Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) cannot be sued for the ongoing contamination from the chemical plant.
On July 31, 2014, Justice Keenan, of Southern District court dismissed the case filed by the Bhopal plaintiffs in the case of Sahu II vs Union Carbide Corporation, a federal class action lawsuit filed by the resident of Bhopal whose land and water remains contaminated by the waste from the chemical plant of Union Carbide.
[File photo]
In a joint statement, the groups fighting for Bhopal gas victims said, “The new evidence submitted in January 2014 consisting of statements from former Union Carbide and Union Carbide India employees, as well as evaluations by experts in waste disposal systems, establishes that UCC provided critical design for the plant and its waste management system and that this design caused the ongoing toxic waste problem in Bhopal.”
“Plaintiffs’ evidence also shows that it was a Union Carbide employee that oversaw and approved construction and design implementing Union Carbide’s plan for the Bhopal plant. This dismissal by Justice Keenan is the fifth dismissal and on many occasions the Bhopal plaintiffs have appealed in the Second Court of Appeals and have also won. We will also appeal this recent decision of Justice Keenan in the second court of appeals,” they added.
The five organisations working among the people poisoned by Union Carbide and the counsel of the petitioners have made several attempts to get Madhya Pradesh Government to become a party in the ongoing litigation in New York.
In fact in 2010 Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh had express his willingness in the MP assembly (note attached) to join the petition but he nothing happened. In January 2014, plaintiffs had also sued the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, which now owns the Bhopal site, to compel its cooperation in the cleanup of the contamination. A summons was sent to the Madhya Pradesh government by the US Court in February 2014. On February 4, 2014 the representatives of the organisations met with the Chief Secretary and handed him a detailed letter (attached) and explained the urgency of the situation and what people of Bhopal stood to gain through the intervention of the MP government.
The last 6 months has been a sordid tale of inefficiency, negligence and lack of political will of the MP government to do anything for the people poisoned by Union Carbide. The summon and the file has been pushed from one department (Law Dept to Additional Solictor General, MP Government Counsel in SC-Gas Relief Dept) to another but MP is yet to make up its mind. Janki Bai, Sahu a plaintiff “expressed hope that MP government will not get its act together and will now intervene in the case while it is being appealed in the Second Circuit Court of appeals. We are hopeful that Madhya Pradesh Government will stand with us in the Court of Appeals and will seek damages towards clean up and remediation of the abandoned Union Carbide plant and the 32 acre area of Solar Evaporation Ponds.”
The groups fighting for justice believe that MP can still intervene on appeal and commence a stand-alone, related case against Union Carbide Corporation and the survivors organisations are hoping that this time MP government will stand with its people, .