The Supreme Court pulled up the Centre over undisbursed funds of Rs 50 crore for the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy. The apex court grilled the Centre on how the settlement can be reopened when Union Carbide has already paid over USD 470 million to the Bhopal gas tragedy victims.
On Tuesday, the Constitution bench of the Supreme Court heard the pleas regarding compensation paid to Bhopal Gas tragedy victims. The bench was headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul.
Senior advocate Harish Salve represented Union Carbide. Salve said there is an attempt by the government to submit a new set of documents. The bench further queried the Attorney-General, can any fresh documents be permitted in a curative petition?
The bench said no review was filed by the government and a curative petition was filed after a gap of 19 years. It added that the settlement is between two parties and one of the parties is the Union of India and it is not a weak party.
Justice Kaul asked the Centre as to why Rs 50 crore were lying undisbursed. He further added this means that the people were not getting the money, and was the government responsible for the money not going to the people?
Meanwhile , Salve told the apex court, “Our position is very simple. There is a settlement and there is no reopener clause in a settlement.”
On October 11, the Centre had told the apex court that it was keen to pursue its curative petition seeking seeking Rs 7,844 crore as additional funds for Union Carbide. Notably, Union Carbide has already paid USD 470 million to the gas tragedy victims. Senior advocate Sanjay Parikh, who was representing the victims, had argued that over the years, the tragedy’s intensity has increased five fold.
