In a major setback for the Union government, the Supreme Court on Tuesday, March 14th, rejected a curative petition filed by the former seeking additional compensation be paid by American chemical company, Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), to the victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy, the Bar and Bench reported.
In legal parlance, a curative petition is a petition which requests the court to review its own verdict even after a review petition is dismissed.
A Constitution Bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, Abhay S Oka, Vikram Nath and JK Maheshwari reprimanded the Union government for not addressing the issue. The Bench also said that the compensation disbursed to the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy was about six times the compensation estimated pro rata.
Reminding the Union government of its onus to address the needs of the Bhopal gas tragedy victims, the bench added that reopening the case would be detrimental to the interest of the claimants.
Earlier, on January 10th, the SC gave a verdict that the court could not turn the case involving compensation for the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy into a suit to determine the compensation afresh. The court reiterated it again on Tuesday.
Attorney General (AG) of India, R Venkataramani argued on behalf of the Union government during the hearing. Senior advocate Harish Salve, on the other hand, appeared for the UCC.
