Bhopal gas tragedy case | Supreme Court dismisses Centre’s petition seeking additional compensation
Any enhancement in compensation for the Bhopal gas tragedy survivors should have been agitated then and not 39 years after the incident, said the Supreme Court
The top court said the Union of India, as a “welfare state”, showed “gross negligence” by not “making good the deficiency” by taking out a relevant insurance policy for the victims.
The top court said the Union of India, as a “welfare state”, showed “gross negligence” by not “making good the deficiency” by taking out a relevant insurance policy for the victims.
Justice Kaul, reading out the unanimous verdict of the five-judge Bench, said the Centre’s curative petition for a “top-up” of the $470 million (about ₹725 crore at the then exchange rate) compensation fixed in a 1989 settlement reached with imprimatur of the apex court, had “no foundation in any known legal principle”. The settlement was final, the court noted.
It explained that the settlement reached with UCC, now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dow Chemicals, could be set aside only if it was found invalid or based on fraud. The government had based its claim for additional funds of ₹675.96 crore from the pesticide company on neither grounds.
