Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The CBI has sought more time to verify the death of an ex-official of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC). The said official, who was convicted for causing death by negligence under Section 304A of the IPC , died in Nagpur.
The Bhopal district and sessions court was hearing a criminal appeal on Tuesday and has scheduled the next hearing for February 3. Earlier, the court had directed the CBI to verify the death of Shakeel Qureshi, a former shift supervisor at the UCC plant and one of the convicted officials, who reportedly died in Nagpur. Qureshi was convicted for causing death by negligence under Section 304A of the Indian Penal Code.
On June 7, 2010, the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) had found eight Indian officials of Union Carbide Corporation and Union Carbide India Limited guilty under Section 304A. The convicted officials subsequently challenged the verdict before the district court, where their appeals have remained pending since then.
Convener of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action, Rachna Dhingra, said that the CBI has sought more time to verify the deaths of UCC officials. She added that during the 15-year-long appeal process, five of the convicted officials have died, and only S P Chaudhary, Kishor Kamadar and J Mukund are still alive.
