4 decades on and 28 judges later, justice eludes Bhopal gas tragedy victims

Bhopal: Forty years after the Bhopal gas tragedy, its victims have failed to get justice with the case witnessing a protracted trial that saw 19 judges presiding over the matter for nearly a quarter of a century, while the appeals against the 2010 judgement have been heard by nine judges so far.

A total of 5,479 people were killed and more than five lakh were affected physically after a highly toxic gas - methyl isocyanate (MIC) - leaked from the Union Carbide factory during the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984.

Of the seven persons convicted by the trial court on June 7, 2010, three -- Keshub Mahindra, former Chairman of Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL), Vijay Prabhakar Gokhle, former Managing Director of UCIL and KV Shetty, a superintendent of a division of UCIL Bhopal -- have passed away, a lawyer linked to the case said.

They convicts were held guilty under Sections 304-A (causing death by negligence), 304-II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 336, 337 and 338 (gross negligence) of the Indian Penal Code.

The court sentenced the seven convicts to two years of imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1,01,750 each on them.

After the judgement in the case, prosecution agency Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a curative petition in the Supreme Court seeking harsher punishment for the convicts. The apex court turned it down.

The convicts on bail filed an appeal challenging the 2010 judgement, stating they should be absolved as they were innocent. The prosecution, too, filed an appeal seeking to increase the quantum of punishment to the convicts on per death count basis, the lawyer said.

When contacted over phone, CBI's counsel Siyaram Meena refused to speak on the status of the case saying he was not authorised to share any details with the media.

The hearing of appeals started in 2010.

District and sessions judge Subhash Kakade heard the appeals till 2011. After his elevation to the MP High Court as a judge, sessions judge Sushma Khosla presided over the appellate court till 2015 before retiring from the service.

After her, judge Rajeev Dubey heard the appeals from April 2015 to October 2016 till he was elevated to the high court as a judge. Thereafter, sessions judge Shailendra Shukla came and heard the appeals until November 2018 before being promoted to the high court as a judge.

After that, sessions judge Rajendra Verma presided over the appellate court proceeding till June 2021 before being elevated to the high court as a judge. After him, Giribala Singh heard the case till February 2023 before retiring.

Sessions judge Manoj Kumar Shrivastava presided over the case till November 2023 before being appointed as the High Court Registrar General. After him, sessions judge Amitabh Mishra presided over the appeal court until October 2024 before being transferred to Katni district court.

Right now, district and sessions judge Manoj Kumar Shrivastava again started hearing the case after returning from the high court to the Bhopal district court.

Before the hearing of the appeals, the trial in the Bhopal gas tragedy case saw 19 judges presiding over it after the chargesheet was filed in December 1987.

Before the verdict came out in 2010, a total of 19 trial court judges had heard the case.

The CBI filed the chargesheet in Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) A Sisodia's court on December 1, 1987 here.

CJM R C Mishra heard the case from September 30, 1988. After him, Lal Singh Bhati heard it from July 1989 to November 1991. It was followed by CJM Gulab Sharma, who referred it to the sessions court on June 22, 1992.

Thereafter, it was heard by sessions judge S P Khare from July 13, 1992.

The case came before two more judges on July 17, 1992 and November 29, 1995. Session judge R G Phadke heard the case from September 24, 1996 and the matter was sent back to the CJM's courts following the Supreme Court amendments diluting the charges in 1996.

Seven more judges heard the case before it came to judicial magistrate Mohan P Tiwari on February 21, 2009. He pronounced the eight accused guilty.

The then CJM Mohan P Tiwari sentenced the seven accused to two years of imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1,01,750 each on them.

The First Information Report (FIR) in the Bhopal gas disaster was filed on December 3, 1984 and the case was transferred to the CBI on December 6, 1984.

Minutes after the verdict came, the then Union law minister M Veerappa Moily told reporters in New Delhi that it was an example of 'justice buried'. He also called for the need to fast-track such cases and ensure proper investigation.

"This is one such case where justice is delayed and practically denied. I would like to say justice is buried," he said at that time.

He said this should not be repeated. Culprits should be brought to book as earlier ensuring maximum punishment by conducting a proper investigation," he had said adding, there was a need for fast-track courts.

The Minister had termed the tragedy a serious disaster due to commission and omission of a particular industry.

Meanwhile, a renowned lawyer of Bhopal said that the High Court should designate a judge to the appeal so that it was disposed of quickly.