A Constitution Bench on Tuesday dismissed a curative petition filed by the Central Government. The petition was to reopen the settlement with the Union Carbide Corporation (presently Dow Chemical) in order to claim additional compensation for victims of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy.
According to reports, it said that the settlement can be set aside only on the ground of fraud. However, no ground of fraud has been pleaded by the Union of India. The Court directed that an amount of Rs 50 crore lying with RBI ought to be utilized by the Union Government to satisfy pending claims, in case there are any.
A Bench comprising Justice S.K. Kaul, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice A.S. Oka, Justice Vikram Nath and Justice J.K. Maheshwari, which had reserved judgment on January 12, 2023, said that the Union's curative petition has no basis in legal principles.
The court said, "The Union has filed the curative petition seeking to reopen the settlement. The responsibility was placed on the Union of India, being a welfare state, to make good the deficiency (in the compensation) and to take out the relevant insurance policy.
Surprisingly, we are informed that no such insurance policy was taken out. This is gross negligence on the part of Union and in breach of the judgment of this Court. The Union cannot be negligence on the part of Union and in breach of the judgment of this Court. The Union cannot be negligent on this aspect and then seek a prayer from this Court to fix such responsibility on the UCC.”
