Union government failed to prepare well for curative petition in SC, say Bhopal Gas victims

Bhopal(Madhya Pradesh): Bhopal gas victims have flayed the Union government for failing to prepare for the Curative Petition that began to be heard in the Supreme Court on Tuesday. They demanded that the government use the three weeks till the next hearing to ensure that the actual damage caused by the disaster is factually represented before the five judge bench of the apex court.

“The Solicitor General informed the five judges in the Supreme Court today (Tuesday)  that he is still waiting for instructions from the government. In the 11 years since the petition was submitted no Indian government has yet filed a single additional argument to protect the legal rights of half a million Bhopal survivors. This government must show that it does in fact care about half a million of its most vulnerable citizens,” said Rashida Bee, Goldman Environmental Prize awardee and president of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh.

“The next hearing on this matter is scheduled for October 11 and we hope that the government uses the time to correct the figures of death and extent of injury caused by the disaster so that the judges are not misled about the actual damage caused by the disaster,” said Rachna Dhingra of the Bhopal Group for Information & Action.