Law Minister Veerappa Moily on Tuesday said that the case against former Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson in connection with the Bhopal gas tragedy was not closed.
"As far as Anderson is concerned, the case is not closed," Moily said.
He said the name of Anderson figured in the charge-sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the case. "The CBI has filed the charge-sheet. The courts then frame charges. There is one person here who has not responded to the summons or replied to the charges. He has absconded and was declared a proclaimed offender," he said.
"That does not mean that the case against him (Anderson) is closed," Moily said.
The minister had on Monday said that the government will fast-track the Bhopal gas tragedy case in the high court as it has learnt 'big lessons' from the verdict and could go in for a stand-alone legislation to ensure that the culprits in such incidents are brought to book effectively.
Nearly 26 years after the world's worst industrial disaster left over 15,000 dead, former Union Carbide India chairman Keshub Mahindra and six others were on Monday sentenced to two years imprisonment.
The outcome of the case came under attack from civil rights activists and political parties. Anderson, 89, the then chairman of Union Carbide Corporation of USA, who lives in the United States, appeared to have gone scot-free for the present as he is still an absconder and did not subject himself to the trial. There was no word about him in the judgment of the Bhopal court.
Maintaining that the case is not over, the Law Minister said in case Anderson can be "obtained," he can still be tried. In 2003, a request for extradition of Anderson was made to the US side under India-US bilateral extradition treaty. This request has already been reiterated on more than one occasion, MEA sources said on Tuesday. Asked whether government was making or would make efforts to extradite Anderson, he said he could not comment on the issue. "I don't know whether the central government can intervene at this stage," he said when asked whether the Centre could do something in a case where the justice came too late and the quantum of punishment was too little.
Moily explained that earlier the CBI had filed a charge sheet under Section 304 (II) under which the maximum punishment is 10 years. "But after the case was agitated by the accused, the matter went to the Supreme Court which said it was not proper to file charges under Section 304 (II) and it has to be framed under Section 304 (A) where the maximum punishment is two years," he said.
On the quantum of punishment given in Monday's verdict, he said "Prima facie I don't see there is much scope for agitating over the matter again for conversion of the case under section 304 (II) because the matter has already been agitated upto the (level of) the Supreme Court." When asked whether the government was having a relook at the Civil Nuclear Liability Bill in the wake of the gas tragedy verdict, he said the matter was already before a Parliamentary Standing Committee and "I would not like to comment on it."
Moily had told reporters on Monday that a lot of lessons needed to be learnt from the Bhopal case while looking at questions investigation, liability, compensation and punishment. He was replying to a question whether the government would heed the message of Bhopal while finalising the Civil Nuclear Liability Bill. Nearly 26 years after world's worst industrial disaster left over 15,000 dead, former Union Carbide India chairman Keshub Mahindra and six others were yesterday sentenced to two years imprisonment. The outcome of the case came under attack from civil rights activists and political parties. 89-year-old Anderson, the then Chairman of Union Carbide Corporation of USA, who lives in the United States, appeared to have gone scot-free for the present as he is still an absconder and did not subject himself to trial. There was no word about him in the judgement of the Bhopal court.
