Latest news with #BhopalGasLeakDisaster(ProcessingofClaims)Act
Time of India
24-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
1984 Bhopal gas tragedy: SC refuses to entertain plea, grants liberty to move HC
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain a plea claiming that several seriously injured survivors of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy were under-compensated because because they were "misclassified" as having temporary disablement or minor injuries.A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran gave the petitioner organisations the liberty to approach the jurisdictional high court on the bench also made it clear that the apex court has not considered the merits of the toxic gas methyl isocyanate leaked from the Union Carbide factory during the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, eventually killing 5,479 people and maiming over five lakh. It is considered to be among the worst industrial disasters in the the matter came up for hearing before the bench, the CJI said decades have already gone by."Do we possess the expertise that a person should have been classified in A category or B category?" the bench counsel for the petitioner organisations said they have made a limited prayer in the plea and are not seeking to reopen petitioners sought directions to the Centre and the Madhya Pradesh government to take suitable steps to identify and compensate those who were under-compensated because of them having been misclassified as 'temporary disablement' or 'minor injury' under the provisions of the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster (Processing of Claims) Act, 1985 and the counsel said a large number of people suffered from kidney failure and cancer due to the gas disaster and were being treated as minor injury cases.
News18
24-07-2025
- News18
1984 Bhopal gas tragedy: SC refuses to entertain plea, grants liberty to move HC
New Delhi, Jul 24 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain a plea claiming that several seriously injured survivors of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy were under-compensated because because they were 'misclassified" as having temporary disablement or minor injuries. A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran gave the petitioner organisations the liberty to approach the jurisdictional high court on the matter. The bench also made it clear that the apex court has not considered the merits of the matter. Highly toxic gas methyl isocyanate leaked from the Union Carbide factory during the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, eventually killing 5,479 people and maiming over five lakh. It is considered to be among the worst industrial disasters in the world. When the matter came up for hearing before the bench, the CJI said decades have already gone by. 'Do we possess the expertise that a person should have been classified in A category or B category?" the bench asked. The counsel for the petitioner organisations said they have made a limited prayer in the plea and are not seeking to reopen anything. The petitioners sought directions to the Centre and the Madhya Pradesh government to take suitable steps to identify and compensate those who were under-compensated because of them having been misclassified as 'temporary disablement' or 'minor injury' under the provisions of the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster (Processing of Claims) Act, 1985 and the scheme. The counsel said a large number of people suffered from kidney failure and cancer due to the gas disaster and were being treated as minor injury cases. PTI ABA ABA MIN MIN view comments First Published: July 24, 2025, 13:00 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
The Hindu
24-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Supreme Court asks HC to hear Bhopal gas victims' claim of ‘misclassification' of illnesses on merits
The Supreme Court on Thursday (July 24, 2025) gave Bhopal gas disaster victims' rights groups liberty to approach the Madhya Pradesh High Court with their claim that survivors with lasting, severe injuries and illnesses were wrongly classified under 'temporary disablement' and 'minor injury' and under-compensated for years. A Bench of Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai and Justice Vinod Chandran asked the High Court to decide the case on its own merits. The apex court clarified that it had not ventured into the merits of the plea. Senior advocates Raju Ramachandran, Karuna Nundy and advocate Prasanna S. appeared for the victims' groups, including Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha. Bhopal Union Carbide Toxic Waste Safely Incinerated After 40 Years They had urged the top court to direct the Centre to identify these 'misclassified' victims and categorise them correctly under the provisions of the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster (Processing of Claims) Act, 1985 so that they would receive adequate compensation to cover their medical treatment. The Centre had termed the Bhopal gas leak tragedy 'the world's largest industrial disaster'. Both the government and the Supreme Court had both agreed in the past that the loss of innocent lives in the aftermath of the fatal escape of Methyl Isocynate (MIC) gas from the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, in the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984 was 'horrific' in every sense. 'A long history of litigation attempting to recover damages from the US-headquartered Union Carbide Corporation (now part of Dow Chemicals Corporation) ended with the dismissal by the Supreme Court of the curative petitions in July 2023 wherein it was made clear that any shortfall in compensation to be paid to the victims were a responsibility of the Union government,' the petition said. The organisations said they had data to show that survivors suffering from cancer and kidney failure as a result of toxic gas exposure were classified under the category of 'minor/temporary injury'. Bhopal gas tragedy: Supreme Court refuses to interfere with HC order on disposal of hazardous waste 'All these cases ought to have been added as a permanent disability category,' the groups had submitted.
The Hindu
17-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Plea in SC says Bhopal gas victims are ‘misclassified'
A petition filed by the Bhopal gas disaster victims' rights groups claiming that survivors with lasting, severe injuries and illnesses have been wrongly classified under 'temporary disablement' and 'minor injury' and under-compensated for years has been lined up for hearing in the Supreme Court. The petition filed by organisations such as the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha urged the top court to direct the Centre to identify these 'misclassified' victims and classify them correctly under the provisions of the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster (Processing of Claims) Act, 1985 so that they receive adequate compensation to cover their medical treatment. The Centre has termed the Bhopal gas leak tragedy 'the world's largest industrial disaster'. Both the government and the Supreme Court have agreed the loss of innocent lives in the aftermath of the fatal escape of Methyl Isocynate (MIC) gas from the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984 was 'horrific' in every sense. Centre's responsibility 'A long history of litigation attempting to recover damages from the U.S.-headquartered Union Carbide Corporation (now part of Dow Chemicals Corporation) ended with the dismissal by the Supreme Court of the curative petitions in July 2023 wherein it was made clear that any shortfall in compensation to be paid to the victims were a responsibility of the Union government,' the petition said. The organisations said they had data to show that survivors suffering from cancer and kidney failure as a result of toxic gas exposure were classified under the category of 'minor/temporary injury'. 'All these cases ought to have been added as a permanent disability category. Even as far back as in 1974, Union Carbide's internal document, titled MIC Plant Safety Considerations Report, had very clearly stated that in cases of inhalation of MIC 'major residual injury is likely in spite of prompt treatment'... This petition seeks to enforce that responsibility of the Union government, pointing out a certain category of cases in which the damages awarded and paid to be manifestly unjust and arbitrary,' the organisation submitted. The case was listed for hearing before a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai on July 14. However, the Bench did not assemble due to the inavailability of the Chief Justice. The case status shows the next date as July 18. The petitioners are represented by senior advocate S. Muralidhar and advocate Prasanna S. Focusing the extent of the disaster's impact on public health even decades later, the petition said records of the hospitals run by the government show that 'more than 30 years after the disaster, 95% of the population officially acknowledged to have been exposed to the toxic gas required hospital visits for their medical needs'. 'Data from the Central government-run hospital show that the incidence of heart ailments, neurology disorders, gastro and kidney ailments, psychiatric disorders and other chronic diseases is very high among gas-exposed patients. Records from eight community health units of the ICMR-run Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre [BMHRC] in Bhopal from 1998 to 2016 show that 50.4% of gas-affected patients suffer from cardiovascular problems and 59.6% suffer from pulmonary problems… In 2023 alone 2,06,016 gas victims visited the BMHRC,' the plea submitted.
