Bhopal: Cong faults judiciary

After a noisy round of finger-pointing in Congress,the party has sought to turn the focus away from score-settling within to the role of non-Congress governments and judiciary in dealing with the Bhopal gas leak case. The Congress brass is of the view that the party has nothing to add to its position that it was up to relevant figures like then MP CM Arjun Singh to offer clarifications or explanations on the escape of former union carbide boss Warren Anderson. With the party stoutly denying that the Rajiv Gandhi government had any role in the case, leaders like law minister M Veerappa Moily on Saturday questioned the role of the judiciary in diluting charges against the accused who were handed out paltry sentences by a trial court this week. The double-track seems well thought out as the party looks to firmly shift public gaze away from internal scoresettling which had been fanned by another former Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijay Singh having said the state merely acted on the Centres instructions. But with a careful perusal of statements made by senior leaders like Arjun Singh and officials soon after the 1984 disaster convincing the leadership that there was no link beyond speculation to Rajiv Gandhis PMO, the party feels it can weather the storm.

Moily said that the CBI had booked a case under section 302, but the Supreme Court had converted it to a case under 304A of culpable homicide with a lighter punishment.Unfortunately the judiciary did it, said Moily, more or less pointing to former CJI A M Ahmadi who had headed the bench.
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Times View

The cacophony of outrage and breast-beating by political parties on Bhopal is not only farcical, but fast turning disgusting. For 26 years, these parties have quietly watched the victims of the tragedy struggle against a judicial system and an executive that repeatedly failed them. Where was their concern all these years.  If they are finally waking up to the immense injustice done to the victims, blame games or setting up committees and groups of ministers is not the way to show it. They should instead devote their energies and attention to provide adequate compensation and rehabilitation for the victims and create institutional safeguards against such miscarraige of justice in the future.
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Moily slams Alexanders views


Distancing itself from the Bhopal gas case,law minister M Veerappa blamed the judiciary in diluting charges against the accused this week. Moily also attacked PC Alexander, former principal secretary to Rajiv Gandhi, for suggesting that late leader may have communicated with Arjun Singh over Andersons release, echoing another Gandhi aide RK Dhawan, for acting out of a personal animus. Moily said that Alexander had been disappointed at Congress not backing his claim for the presidents office. While Alexander did not react to either Moily or Alexander, former CJI,while saying he did not want to engage in a blame-game with anyone went on point out that the government of the day could not absolve itself of all responsibility. When something of this nature happens to people of the country, does the government say it has no responsibility I am unable to understand that, Ahmadi said. Congress sources also said that BJP did not have much of a leg to stand on as the opinion of former attorney general Soli Sorabjee that there was a lack of strong evidence to link Anderson to the gas leak dates to 2001 when the NDA was in power. The party can be expected to question BJPs track record onthe case when countering opposition partys claim that Congress must come clean on who allowed Anderson to leave India.

Aware that Arjun Singh could well be counting on his enigmatic silence to deepen the mystery over Andersons exit and speculation over whether he had acted under instructions of the Centre, Congress kept up the pressure on the leader. Arjun Singh should break his silence and come forward to tell whether he stands by the statements he made after Anderson left the country, said Congress MP Satyavrat Chaturvedi. Chaturvedi said Singh had announced that Anderson was not required by the police, that there was no pressure on him from anybody and that he had briefed Rajiv Gandhi about the circumstances that led to the union carbide bosss arrest and release. These remarks clearly show that Rajiv Gandhi had nothing to do with the release of Anderson, a decision taken at the level of the state government, the MP said.
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US to consider Carbide chiefs extradition

Days after ruling out any new inquiries against Union Carbide in the wake of the Bhopal court verdict, the US on Saturday said it is prepared to give fair consideration to any fresh request from India for extradition of the company s former chief Warren Anderson over the 1984 gas disaster that killed thousands. We have an extradition treaty with India.And if India makes an extradition request to us, we will give it fair consideration, US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said.If the government of India makes such a request the US will carefully evaluate it, he told reporters in response to a question. Crowley, however, said he was not in a position to verify whether the US had already received such requests or whether it had responded to them arguing that all such issues were confidential.
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Anderson not well, everything sorted out: Wife

New Delhi: Warren Anderson is said to be indisposed and completely oblivious to growing clamour in India for bringing him to justice after a light punishment to seven Indians convicted in the Bhopal gas disaster provoked outrage across the country. The 89-year-old was the head of Union Carbide Corp when about 40 tonnes of deadly methyl isocyanate gas leaked from its plant in Bhopal and left around 15,000 people dead in the worlds worst industrial disaster. He was briefly detained and later allowed to leave the country. He now lives on Ocean Road at Bridgehampton in New York State with his wife, Lillian Anderson (85).

He (Anderson) is unwell and cant answer any questions, Andersons wife told a Times Now reporter, who tracked down the Andersons. Lillian said there was nothing to say and that everything has been sorted out. A Bhopal court on Monday had convicted seven former senior employees of Union Carbides Indian subsidiary of death by negligence for their roles in the tragedy. The CBI, which said the plant hadnt been following proper safety procedures,had originally accused 12 defendants: eight Indian company officials; Anderson; the Union Carbide and two subsidiary companies.One of the accused Indians has since died.
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