Special Correspondent

NewsBits.in

Bhopal: As expected, Dow Chemical – the present owner of Union Carbide – failed to yet again appear for the Bhopal gas tragedy criminal case hearing at a Bhopal court on Wednesday.

Now, the court is expected to decide on the possibility of initiating ex-parte proceedings against Dow Chemical. It would pass an order in this regard on August 6.

Hundreds were killed and thousands maimed for life in the Bhopal gas tragedy that struck on night of December 2/3, 1984. Toxic fumes had escaped from the Union Carbide chemical fertilizers factory in midst of Bhopal and turned the city into a gas chamber overnight.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Bhubhaskar Yadav considered the arguments of the lawyer of Bhopal Group for Information and Action (BGIA), which is assisting prosecuting agency Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the criminal case, before deciding to take a view on the matter on August 6.

The lawyer of BGIA brought to notice of the court that Dow Chemical was in knowledge of the Bhopal court summons as is evident from posts on its official website. Yet the company was ignoring the summons repeatedly and therefore the court should initiate ex-arte proceedings against it.

The lawyer also told the court that BGIA was ready to take responsibility to get the notice served on Dow Chemical, Rachna Dhingra of the organization told NewsBits.in.

The foreign accused in Bhopal gas tragedy criminal case - including Union Carbide, USA, Union Carbide Hong Kong and ex-chairman of Union Carbide Warren Anderson (now deceased) have been declared absconders by Bhopal trial court.

However, a demand was raised from BGIA that Dow Chemical that presently owns Union Carbide should be summoned to Bhopal court so that the absconding accused are forced to stand trial.  Summons has been issued four times since July 2014 to Dow Chemical by the Bhopal trial court but to no avail.

The CBI lawyers told the court on Wednesday that it had tried to serve the summons to Dow Chemical through Indian home ministry, which in turn had forwarded it to the US Department of Justice (DoJ) for serving, but there has been no forward movement.

Meanwhile, the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB) has submitted an online petition to the White House, USA, with over one lakh signatures, demanding to know as to why the DoJ was not serving the summons on Dow Chemicals. “The White House has till August 16 to reply to our petition,” Rachna Dhingra said.

Also the BGIA and other associate organizations have submitted representations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the matter and get Dow Chemical to appear in Bhopal Court.

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