The apex court bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra adjourned the hearing till Wednesday and said Chief Justice of India SA Bobde would take a call on composition of the bench to hear the matter.
Over six lakh people were exposed to the leakage of Methyl Isocyanate from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal on the night of December 2-3, 1984. An estimated 15,000 people have died due to the toxic gas . (File Photo by Gagan Nayar / AFP)
In the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy case, considered as one of the world’s worst industrial disaster, the Supreme Court judge Justice S Ravindra Bhat today recused himself from hearing the Centre’s plea seeking Rs 7,844 crore as additional fund from successor firms of US-based Union Carbide Corporation for giving compensation to the 1984 disaster’s victims.
The apex court bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra adjourned the hearing till Wednesday and said Chief Justice of India SA Bobde would take a call on composition of the bench to hear the matter.
“We will not take it up today. We are waiting for CJI’s order,” said the five-judge bench, also comprising justices Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran, MR Shah and Bhat.
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Justice Bhat expressed his unwillingness to be part of the bench hearing the matter. He said, “I had appeared for the union of India in the matter when union had sought review”.
The Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), now owned by Dow Chemicals, gave a compensation of USD 470 million (Rs 715 crore at the time of settlement). Over six lakh people were exposed to the leakage of Methyl Isocyanate from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal on the night of December 2-3, 1984. An estimated 15,000 people have died due to the toxic gas .
The 35th anniversary of the tragedy was observed in December, last year.
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