Disappointed with the court verdict in the Bhopal gas tragedy case, activists, who have been fighting for justice for the families of victims, on Monday said the eight persons have been convicted on “diluted” charges and they would appeal before the High Court.
Eminent lawyer K.T.S. Tulsi agreed with the activists, saying that the investigating agencies as well as prosecutors “mishandled” the case. “It is the sheer incompetence of investigators as well as prosecutors. They must share the blame. In a trial like this, the judges ought to have made up the deficiency, directed further investigation and ought not to have become merely recording machines.”
“In every case, where rich and powerful are involved, there is an attempt to cover-up. The question is why did it happen so conveniently? Why was the press not so vigilant?” he said, adding that justice had not been done in this case. “It is the obligation of the judiciary that people get justice. Unfortunately, in this case they have not got justice.”
An activist said the industrial disaster was converted into something like a traffic accident.
‘Disappointed'
“People are extremely disappointed because a lot of them did not know that the charges are diluted. Now, they find that the disaster, which was the world's worst industrial disaster, has been converted into something like a traffic accident,” Sarangi of Bhopal Group of Information and Action said.
“The documentary evidence is there to show that way back in 1973, then chairman of Union Carbide Corporation of the U.S., Warren Anderson, was fully aware and actually approved the untested technology to go to Bhopal and that he was aware that it was hazardously designed and planned in an unsafe location that was being run in an extremely unsafe manner,” the activist said.
Another activist N.D. Jayaprakash alleged that the accused did not use the best safety procedure available.
