BHOPAL, 12 December 2005 — The survivors of Bhopal gas tragedy, the world’s worst industrial disaster, have filed an appeal in the Second Circuit Court, New York against a District Court order rejecting their suit for damages against Dow Chemicals, the present owner of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC).
According to the survivors’ US attorney H. Rajan Sharma, “We are confident that the Court of Appeals will vindicate the rightness of our position and reverse the decision of the lower court in whole or in part.” The Dow Chemicals’ Accountability Network Coordinator Diana Ruiz said the company was aware of the appeal filed by the survivors.
It may be pointed out here that after a six-year battle in the American lower court, Justice John F. Keenan recently rejected the plaint filed by NGOs, asserting claims for personal injuries, environmental damage, property damage and human rights violations of the Bhopal gas victims against the Union Carbide Corporation. It was a major setback to advocates of the Bhopal cause on the occasion of 21st anniversary of the gas disaster.
The judge observed: “the court will not grant relief where it happens to be impossible and impractical. UCC now has no claims or connection with the property and has not had any control over it for several years. Ordering remediation by the defendants would be ineffectual as they have no means or authority to carry it out.”
Hasina Bi, one of the survivors, alleged in her suit that her well got polluted due to the leak of hazardous chemicals from the UCC factory.
