Bhopal court to continue hearing Dow liability case

Bhopal: The case relating to the legal accountability of US chemical giant, M/s Dow Chemical, after it took over Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), towards the Bhopal gas disaster, will continue to be heard in the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), Bhopal, Hemlata Ahirwar.

Earlier, Dow Chemical's contention to absolve itself of criminal liability did not stand trial in the Bhopal court, and the company was declared a proclaimed offender. Counsel for the company, including Siddartha Luthara and Ravindra Shrivastava, argued at length ion Wednesday in favour of their contention that only the CBI court at Indore is competent to hear the case. Counsel for the prosecuting agency, CBI, Manphool Vishnoi, and counsel for the NGO, Bhopal Group for Information & Action (BGIA), Avi Singh and Prasanna B, argued that the disaster took place in Bhopal and therefore a competent Bhopal court is very much entitled to hear the case, irrespective of the fact that CBI is the prosecuting agency in the Bhopal disaster criminal case. Following arguments, JMFC Hemlata Ahirwar decided that the case would continue to be heard in the Bhopal court only and fixed the case for hearing on Aug 23.

During the hearing of the Bhopal gas disaster criminal case in the court of the chief judicial magistrate, the BGIA moved an application seeking to make Dow Chemical a party in the case as it bought over Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) in the year 2000, which was a proclaimed offender in the Bhopal gas disaster criminal case. The courts later issued notices to Dow Chemical to appear in court, but they did not respond to six summonses. It was only after the 7th summons issued to the company that advocates representing the company appeared in court.

In the previous hearing of the case, lawyers representing the company changed tack and argued that the JMFC court, Bhopal, does not have the jurisdiction to hear the case where CBI is the prosecution agency and that the case should be heard at the CBI court, Indore.